Black + White Photography - Special Issue - Digital Exposure Handbook

Digital
Exposure

HANDBOOK
ROSS HODDINOTT
Revised edition

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Lxposure

HANDBOOK
Revised edition
ROSS HODDINOTT
First published 2008
This edition published 2013 by
Ammonite Press
an imprint of AE Publications Ltd
166 High Street, Lewes,
East Sussex, BN7 1XU, United Kingdom
Text and photographs Ross Hoddinott, 2013
Copyright in the Work AE Publications Ltd, 2013
All rights reserved
The right of Ross Hoddinott to be identied as the
author of this work has been asserted in accordance
with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988,
sections 77 and 78.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or
by any means without the prior permission of the
publisher and copyright owner.
This book is sold subject to the condition that all
designs are copyright and are not for commercial
reproduction without the permission of the designer
and copyright owner.
The publishers and author can accept no legal
responsibility for any consequences arising from
the application of information, advice or instructions
given in this publication.
A catalogue record for this book is available from
the British Library.
Publisher: Jonathan Bailey
Production Manager: Jim Bulley
Managing Editor: Gerrie Purcell
Senior Project Editor: Dominique Page
Editor: Rob Yarham
Managing Art Editor: Gilda Pacitti
Designer: Chlo Alexander
Set in Bliss
Colour origination by GMC Reprographics
Picture credits
All photographs by Ross Hoddinott, except for
the following:
2020VISION/Ross Hoddinott: 77, 98, 173, 179
Ollie Blayney: 87, 88
Tom Collier: 64 (top)
Additional images by: Canon 24, 129; Datacolor
182; Epson 185 (top); Hoya 151 (far right), 160;
Lastolite 121, 144; Lee Filters 151, 155, 158; Lexar
168; Nikon 66, 67, 126, 130, 132; Permajet 184/185;
Sekonic 17; Wimberley 145.
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Contents
Introduction 8

The basics of exposure 13

Exposure in practice 71

Ambient light 103

Flash light 123

Filters 147

Exposure in the digital darkroom 165

Glossary 188

Useful websites 190

Index
191
8
Introduction

exposure / noun.
The act, or an instance, of exposing a
sensitized photographic material, or the
product of the light intensity multiplied
by the duration of such an exposure.

Exposure is the heartbeat of photography. Put simply,
it is the process of light striking a photosensitive
material, such as lm, photographic paper or a digital
cameras image sensor. Understanding and being
able to control exposure is critical to successful
photography. However, it is a subject that, at times,
can appear complex and confusing not only to
beginners, but enthusiasts as well. So many things
can inuence exposure, including the time of day,
focal length of the lens, subject movement, light
source and any lters attached. Certainly, when I rst
began taking photography seriously as a teenager,
I found the theory and technicalities of exposure
tricky to understand. However, I quickly realized that
if you try to overlook this key fundamental, your
photography will suffer and never realize its full,
creative potential.
Exposure is a combination of the length of
time and the level of illumination received by
a light-sensitive material. This is determined by
three settings: shutter speed, lens aperture and ISO
equivalency rating. The shutter speed is the duration
of time that the cameras shutter remains open,
allowing light to enter and expose the sensor. The
aperture or f-stop is the size of the adjustable
lens diaphragm, which dictates the amount of light
entering the camera. The ISO speed indicates the
sensors sensitivity to light. At lower sensitivities,
the sensor requires a longer exposure to get a good
result, while at high sensitivities, less light is needed.
If the combination of shutter time, aperture
and ISO sensitivity is incorrect, the picture will be
wrongly exposed. Too much light falling on the
sensor will result in an overexposed image with
washed out highlights; too little light and the
image will be underexposed, appearing too dark.
Simply speaking, a good photograph relies on the
photographer employing just the right combination
of settings to form the correct level of exposure.
However, while this might be logical in theory,
I often ask myself: Is there really such a thing as
the correct exposure? While you could say that
a correctly exposed image is one that records
the scene or subject exactly as our eyes see it,
photography is a subjective and creative art. There
is no rule stating that a photographer must always
capture images that are authentic it is subject
to individual interpretation. Therefore, arguably,
a correct exposure is simply one that is faithful
to the vision of the photographer at the moment
he or she triggers the shutter.
Todays breed of digital cameras boasts highly
sophisticated and accurate internal metering
systems, which are rarely fooled even in awkward
lighting conditions. They have simplied many
of the technical aspects of exposure, for which
we should be grateful. However, a camera is still
only a machine; it cannot predict the effect and
look the photographer is striving to achieve. It is
for this reason that you shouldnt always rely on
your cameras automated settings. Remember:
you are the artist and, as such, you need to grasp
control from your camera. Fail to do so, and your
images will never truly convey your own individual
interpretation of the subject you are shooting.
Damsely
Every time you take a photo, you are recording
a unique moment that can never be repeated.
A good understanding of exposure is vital to
ensure your image is compelling to others and
faithfully captures the light, essence and mood
of that particular moment.
Nikon D800, 150mm, ISO 200, 1/3sec at f/22, tripod.
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Introduction
10
Digital Exposure Handbook
Basically, without a good understanding of exposure,
your images will never progress beyond the realm
of pleasing snapshots.
Exposure can be manipulated for creative effect
in so many different ways. For example, it can be
used to create the impression of movement, or to
freeze fast action that otherwise would be too quick
for the human eye to register. However, the skill isnt
just to know how to create such effects; you also
need to be able to judge when to employ certain
settings. This handbook will help you make the right
choices. It is designed to be an exhaustive manual
on the subject, covering every aspect of exposure as
well as offering helpful and practical advice on ways
to improve your photography in general.
My hope is that this guide will inspire you,
helping to open your eyes to the skills and techniques
required to manage and control exposure in order to
create images that succeed in relaying your artistic
vision. However, reading this book alone will not
improve your photography; you have to adopt and
implement the things you learn in your own picture
taking. After all, photography is a skill and, if you wish
to improve, it has to be practised.
Church silhouette
In many ways, there is no such thing as a correct
exposure. For example, technically speaking,
a silhouette is the result of poor exposure the
subject being grossly underexposed. However, no
one could deny that silhouettes create dramatic
and striking imagery.
Nikon D300, 2485mm (at 85mm), ISO 200,
2min at f/11, 10-stop ND, tripod.
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The basics of exposure

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1
Photography is derived from the Greek
phos, meaning light, and graph, meaning
to draw; therefore a photograph is a
drawing made with light. Since the French
lithographer Nicphore Nipce created
the rst permanent photograph in 1826
by coating a pewter plate with asphaltum,
controlling exposure has been the key
fundamental of photography. Even in this
digital age, exposure is still determined
by the same three variable settings that
have been used since its advent: the
sensitivity of the photo-sensitive material
used to record the image, shutter speed
and lens aperture.
ISO equivalency rating
ISO (International Standards Organization) equivalency
refers to a sensors sensitivity to light. It is a term
that is adopted from lm photography, when lm
was rated depending on the way it reacted to light.
A low ISO rating or number is less sensitive
to light, meaning it requires a longer exposure.
In contrast, a high ISO equivalency is more sensitive
to light, which in practical terms means it needs
less exposure. Every doubling of the ISO speed
halves the brightness of light, or the length of time
required, to produce the correct exposure, or vice
versa. The sensitivity of an image sensor is measured
in much the same way as lm. For example, an ISO
equivalency of 200 would react to light in an almost
identical way to a roll of lm with the same rating.
Digital cameras allow photographers the luxury of
altering ISO sensitivity quickly and easily. Increasing
ISO sensitivity is a useful way to generate a faster
shutter speed in shooting situations where you wish
to capture fast action or when working in low light.
Shutter speed
Also known as shutter time, shutter speed is the
length of time the camera shutter remains open.
It determines the amount of light entering the
camera in order to expose the sensor. The duration
of the shutter speed can be as brief as 1/8000sec or
upwards of 30sec, depending on the light available
and also the effect the photographer desires. As with
the lens aperture, one full stop change in shutter
speed will either halve or double the amount of
light reaching the sensor. For example, reducing the
shutter time from 1/500sec to 1/250sec will double
the length of time the shutter remains open and vice
versa. The shutter speed greatly dictates how motion
is depicted in the resulting photograph. A fast shutter
time will freeze movement, while a slow speed can
create subject blur (if the subject is moving), creating
the feeling of motion and giving images added
energy or interest.
Brentor
To ensure that sufcient light exposes the sensor
to record the scene or subject faithfully, an
appropriate combination of ISO sensitivity, lens
aperture and shutter speed needs to be selected.
3min at f/11, 10-stop ND, tripod.

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Lens aperture
Blurred tide
For this image, I prioritized a slow shutter speed
to creatively blur the movement of the rising
tide. I was able to do this by selecting a low ISO
sensitivity, small aperture, and shoot in low light.
30sec at f/14, tripod.
in aperture doubles the amount of light reaching the
image sensor, while each 1-stop reduction halves
the amount of light. The aperture affects depth of
eld (see page 46), with a large aperture creating
a narrow depth of eld and a small aperture
producing a wide depth of eld.
Summary
To achieve consistently accurate and faithful
exposures, it is essential to have a good
understanding of the three variables and their
relationship to each another. Once you have
selected an appropriate combination of lens
aperture and shutter speed for a given ISO
sensitivity a change in one will necessitate
an equal and opposite change in the other.
Quite simply, it is these three exposure variables
that form the basics of exposure and photography.
The lens aperture is the size of the adjustable lens
diaphragm, which dictates the amount of light
allowed to reach the sensor. In isolation, its design
can be compared to that of a human eye. Our pupils
contract in bright conditions, needing less light
to distinguish detail, while in low light our pupils
require more light so grow larger. By altering the lens
aperture, photographers are affecting the amount of
light reaching the sensor.
Apertures are measured using f-stops and,
while all camera lenses are calibrated to the same
measurement scale, the range of f-numbers varies
from one lens to another, typically ranging from
f/1.4 and up to f/32. Larger apertures (denoted by
small f-numbers) allow light to reach the sensor
more quickly, meaning less exposure time is needed.
At small apertures (large f-number), it takes longer
for sufcient light to expose the sensor, so therefore
a longer exposure is required. Each 1-stop increase
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Metering
Metering is the way light is measured to
determine the best exposure value for
a particular scene or subject. There are
two types of metering tool: the cameras
built-in TTL (through the lens) metering
system or a handheld device. The systems
employed by todays digital cameras are
highly sophisticated and accurate. However,
they are not infallible and can be deceived
in awkward lighting conditions for
example, by backlighting (see page 107).
Emerging leaves
Modern metering may be highly accurate and
reliable, but it cannot predict the effect you are
striving to achieve artistically. Photographers
need to be aware of how light is measured, to
enable them to manipulate it creatively.
Nikon D200, 150mm, ISO 100, 1/100sec
at f/9, tripod.
Reected or incident light
what is the difference?
Light is calculated in one of two ways: either by
measuring the light reecting off the subject
(reected light) or the amount falling on it
(incident light). Cameras and some handheld
devices incorporate reected light metering
systems. They work by measuring the amount
of light actually reaching the camera and, in the
instance of TTL metering, entering the lens. They
perceive the subjects visual brightness based on
the amount of light reecting off it, translating it
into an exposure value.
The main drawback of using this type of
measurement is that the level of reectance varies
greatly depending on the subject, so the metering
system can only guess at how much light is actually
striking it. Also, it is affected by the tonality of the
subject, being designed to give a reading for middle
grey (see page 20), irrespective of its tone. This is
ne when the subjects reectance is sufciently
diverse throughout the image, which it tends to be
in the vast majority of instances.
Problems can arise when the scene or the
subject is excessively light or dark, as a reected
light reading will still attempt to record tone as
middle grey. As a result, light subjects are typically
recorded underexposed, while dark subjects will be
overexposed. However, as long as the photographer
is aware of the potential problem, they can
compensate accordingly by selecting an appropriate
metering evaluation mode or by adjusting exposure
to correct any errors.
The biggest advantage of using a reected light
meter is its practicality. You dont need to be in the
direct vicinity of the subject something that is
impractical with many subjects.
An incident light meter works by measuring the
light actually falling on the subject and is commonly
the type of metering employed in handheld devices.
Therefore, they benet from being not inuenced by
tonality and any light absorption properties of the
subject. They are highly reliable, but meter readings
need to be taken very near to the subject itself.
While this is ne for studio work, weddings and
portraiture, it is not practical when photographing
distant subjects.

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Handheld light meters
At rst glance, handheld light meters may appear
old fashioned and redundant. The built-in metering
systems of digital SLRs (DSLRs) are so sophisticated
today that they can be relied upon in the vast
majority of situations. However, the versatility and
accuracy of external meters mean they remain a
popular accessory among enthusiast photographers,
in particular those regularly working in a studio
environment. There are two types of handheld meter;
reected and incident.
A reected light meter also known as spot
works in a similar way to TTL metering, measuring
the light reecting off the subject. The best hand-
held reected light meters offer a 1-degree spot
metering facility, allowing users to assess the light
from very specic parts of the composition. Whilst
some DSLRs can spot meter from a 34 degree
area, none offer this high level of metering precision
and creative control. However, on the downside,
handheld devices do not calculate for external
factors, such as lters. Therefore, if a lter is attached
for example, a polarizer with a 4x lter factor (see
page 149) the photographer must manually adjust
the meters recommended settings to compensate.
Incident light meters work by measuring the light
actually falling on the subject, rather than reecting
off it, meaning they are unaffected by the tonality
of the subject. They are designed with a white plastic
dome, or invercone, which averages the light falling
on it before the diffused level of light is measured
by the meters cell. While a handheld reected light
meter works by being pointed at the subject, an
incident meter should be placed near to the subject
itself, pointing back towards the camera something
that may not be practical for some subjects, such as
wildlife photography. However, because of the way
they work, they are not inuenced by contrasting
areas of light or dark, making them popular among
wedding and portrait photographers.
Handheld light meter
Among the main manufacturers that produce
handheld light meters are Gossen and Sekonic.
Many are highly sophisticated. For instance, the
Sekonic L-758DR boasts independent programming
of ash, ambient, incident and reected measuring
modes customized to your digital camera. It also
alerts you when a measured value exceeds your
digital cameras dynamic range. It has a rectangular
1-degree spot viewnder with vivid display.
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TTL metering
Through the lens (TTL) metering is the brains behind
how your camera determines the shutter speed
and aperture combination, based on the available
light and ISO rating. TTL metering systems measure
the reected light entering the lens. Therefore, unlike
handheld devices, they automatically adjust for
external factors, such as added lters or shooting at
high magnications. When TTL metering was rst
introduced, over 40 years ago, it was basic. Today,
in-camera metering is highly sophisticated and
reliable, producing accurate results in practically
any lighting condition, meaning few photographers
today require a separate handheld device.
How your camera calculates exposure is determined
by the metering pattern it employs to measure
the light reaching the metering sensor. Digital SLRs
boast a choice of metering patterns typically,
multi-segment, centre weighted and spot each
of which are designed to evaluate light in different
ways. The metering patterns of todays cameras aim
to keep exposure error to a minimum. However,
each system has lighting conditions for which they
excel and also for which they can fail. Therefore, it
is important to understand how each one works so
you can select the system most appropriate for your
subject and also the shooting conditions.
Castle ruins
Digital cameras offer users a choice of metering
method. It is important to be familiar with each,
so that you can condently select the form of
metering that is best suited to what you are
photographing. When I took this image, I used
my cameras multi-segment metering, condent
that it would produce an accurate reading in
the conditions.
Nikon D800, 2470mm (45mm) ISO 100,
1/8sec at f/11, tripod.
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Bridge in autumn
Multi-segment metering is most effective when
the scene or subject is mid-tone, making it well
suited to subjects like evenly lit landscapes and
woodland scenes.
Multi-segment metering
This form of metering offers photographers the
highest ratio of success. Typically, this is a cameras
default setting, being reliable in the vast majority
of lighting conditions. As its name suggests, it works
by taking multiple independent light readings from
various areas of the frame. It then compares the
measurements made from each individual area
against a library of typical scenes before calculating
a meter reading based on its ndings.
Depending on the make of the camera, this
form of metering pattern is named differently; for
example, it is also known as Evaluative, Matrix
and Honeycomb metering. However, regardless
of the title it is given, the principle is the same.
The viewnder is divided into multiple segments
from which the camera measures the level of light
relative to that part of the image space. The cameras
processor assesses this information, before assigning
an exposure value via its viewnder and LCD display.
Multi-segment metering is most effective when the
scene or the subject is predominantly mid-tone, and
the brightness range is within the cameras dynamic
range. As the majority of photographs taken fall
within this broad description, it is easy to understand
why this particular form of measuring light is so
popular and effective. However, the system is less
useful when you wish to meter for a specic area
within the frame, such as for a backlit or silhouetted
subject, for example.
Due to its nature, multi-segment metering will
provide an overall average setting, thus limiting the
creative control you have over the image. In situations
like this, it is worthwhile switching to the precision of
spot or partial metering.
4sec at f/16, polarizer, tripod.
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Centre-weighted metering
The oldest form of TTL metering is centre-weighted
or average-weighted metering, but it is still found
on most modern DSLRs. While it has been greatly
superseded by sophisticated multi-zone metering
systems, it remains a highly useful form of measuring
light. The system works by averaging the light reading
over the entire scene, but with emphasis placed on
the central portion of the frame. Typically, around
75% of the reading is based on a centre circle,
visible through the viewnder. This is often
3
81in
(812mm) in diameter, although the size of the
reference area that the camera uses to weight
its light reading can be adjusted on some models.
Centre-weighted metering works using the
theory that the main subject is normally central in
the frame. Therefore, it is well suited to portraiture
photography or in situations where the subject lls
a large portion of the image space. Also, this system
is less inuenced by areas of intense light or dark
shadow at the edges, which would affect multi-
zone readings. However, centre-weighted metering
is less useful when taking photographs where the
subject brightness range, between foreground and
background, exceeds the cameras dynamic range
(see page 28); for example, in landscape photography,
where underexposure is likely in images boasting
plenty of bright sky.
20
What is mid-tone?
Light meters handheld and in-camera are calibrated
to always give a reading for a middle-tone subject that
reects 18% of the light falling on it. This is known as
18% grey or mid-tone and is the value of the mid-point
of a photographic materials or sensors ability to read
detail in both an images highlights and shadows. To help
understand this, imagine a scale from pure white to pure
black, with each progressive step reecting half or double
the amount of the light falling on its neighbour. While you
might presume that 50% would be the mid-point, in reality
this degree of reectance would be substantially brighter
than what would appear to be mid-tone. This middle point
is therefore represented by 18% grey, although some would
argue that the mid-tone is actually nearer to 12%. This is
relevant, as light meters often work in greyscale.
Therefore, when photographing a medium-tone
subject, such as the skin tone of a Caucasian, brickwork
or grass, your light meter will be reliable, giving you a
technically accurate exposure value. However, metering
problems can arise when you photograph subjects that are
darker or lighter than mid-tone; for example, snow or a black
cat. Your metering will still set a value for mid-tone, whereas
in reality you will normally want subjects that are lighter
or darker than mid-tone to appear so, otherwise they wont
be captured faithfully. This is why, despite the accuracy
of modern metering, it is necessary to employ a degree of
exposure compensation (see page 58) in some instances.
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Centre weighted
Gerbera
Centre- or average-weighted
metering systems assign greater
emphasis to the light falling
in the middle of the frame.
This makes it a reliable system
for photographing subjects that
ll the frame, such as this close-
up of a gerbera.
Using this form of metering,
about 75% of the sensitivity
is directed towards the central
part of the frame. As a result,
it is less inuenced by any
areas of varying brightness
at the edges of the frame
that would otherwise trick
the metering system.
Canon EOS 50D, 60mm, ISO 100, 1/200sec at f/2.8, tripod.
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from just a small percentage of the image space, it
is possible to achieve a correct reading for relatively
small, specic subjects within the frame. This is
useful in a number of situations, but particularly
when dealing with awkward, changeable light and
high-contrast scenes for example, when the
background is much brighter than the subject due
to backlighting (see page 107).
Although the metering circle is central in the
viewnder, most cameras allow the user to select
an off-centre spot for when the subject is not
central. If your camera does not have this option,
take a spot meter reading from the desired area
and then employ autoexposure lock (AE-L) before
recomposing the shot. Some cameras have a multi-
spot option, which allows you to take several spot
meter readings and then employ an average.
Spot and partial metering
These are the most precise forms of TTL metering
available to photographers. Both systems calculate
the overall exposure from just a small portion of the
image space, without being inuenced by the light
in other areas. Typically, spot metering employs a
reading from a central circle covering just 24%
of the frame; partial metering works by measuring
light from a larger area usually 1014%. Spot is a
common metering system, found on the majority of
DSLRs, while partial metering is found on only a few
models, mostly Canon-made.
Spot and partial metering allow far more control
over the accuracy of exposure than any other metering
system. However, they also rely on greater input
from the photographer, requiring them to point the
metering spot directly towards the area of the scene
they wish to meter from. By measuring the light
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Partial metering Spot metering
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Spot and partial metering are highly useful tools, which, when used correctly, will help
to ensure you achieve the exposure you desire. However, remember to switch your
metering mode back to multi-segment metering when you have nished, as this
is best suited to day-to-day photography.
Spot and partial metering base their light readings on a small
percentage of the frame, making them the most accurate form
of TTL metering. However, as a result, they also require the most
input and care from the photographer.
Barn owl
The owls white plumage strongly
contrasts with the inky black
background, creating a difcult
scene to meter correctly. I feared my
cameras multi-segment metering
would be fooled, so instead I
selected spot metering mode, and
metered from the plumage on its
head. I then locked the settings
before taking the picture.
Nikon D200, 200mm, ISO 100,
Exposure lock
The autoexposure lock (AE-L) button is a common
feature on practically all DSLRs, permitting photographers
to lock the current exposure settings regardless
of changes to the incoming light levels through the
viewnder. In practice, this means you can take a meter
reading from a small, specic area typically using spot
or partial TTL metering and then lock the settings
before recomposing the image and releasing the shutter.
As a result, your original reading will be unaffected by
light or shadow in other parts of the frame and the
region you metered from will be correctly exposed.
Fail to lock exposure and your camera will automatically
readjust the settings when the composition is rearranged.
If shooting in manual exposure mode, autoexposure lock
isnt required as settings are altered by the photographer,
not the camera.
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Sensor technology
At the hub of a digital camera is its image
sensor. Sensors are silicon chips. The most
common types found in DSLRs are charge-
coupled device (CCD) and complementary
metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS).
While they have differing characteristics,
both types work in a similar way, with
each capable of excellent results.
Image sensors
Image sensors have millions of photosensitive
diodes, called photosites, on their surface, each
of which captures a single pixel. They are usually
arranged in rows on the chip and are only sensitive
to monochromatic light. Therefore, to create colour,
the majority of image sensors are overlaid with a
Bayer mosaic, which lters light into red, green and
blue. Each individual diode reads the quantity of light
striking it during exposure, which is then counted
and converted into a digital number. This number
represents the brightness and colour of a single pixel.
The information is then converted into an electrical
signal and the charges are processed row by row to
reconstruct the image. (Charge-coupled devices get
their name from how the information from the rows
of pixels is joined together, or coupled.)
Finally, the picture information is passed to the
storage media. It is remarkable to think that each
time you take a picture your digital camera quite
literally makes millions of calculations in order to
capture, lter, interpolate, compress, store, transfer
and display the shot. All of these calculations are
performed in-camera by a processor similar to
the one employed in your desktop computer, but
dedicated to this task.
Resolution
The number of pixels used to capture a photograph is known
as the pixel count or resolution. So, for example, if a digital
camera produces an image size of 5,760 x 3,840 pixels, its
maximum resolution is 22.3 million pixels (5,760 multiplied
by 3,840). The term mega-pixel is commonly used to
express 1 million pixels. Digital cameras are often referred to
by their maximum resolution; so, for example, a 22-megapixel
camera is one that is capable of recording upwards of 22
million pixels.
The number of pixels used to capture an image is
important as it dictates how large the resulting photograph
can be displayed or printed before image quality degrades.
More pixels should equate to added detail and sharpness.
Therefore, it is always best to employ your cameras highest
resolution, for the simple reason that you can make an image
smaller using photo-editing software, but you cannot make
it larger while still retaining the original quality. Regardless
of the number of megapixels used to capture an image, the
square pixels will always begin to show if they are enlarged
enough. This is known as pixellation. However, with many
digital cameras now boasting a resolution of 18 million pixels
or more, image quality remains outstandingly high even
when images are printed or enlarged to A2 or bigger.
Sensor unit
This image shows the sensor unit found in the EOS
5D Mark III. It is typical of the units incorporated
in todays DSLRs. This particular CMOS sensor has
an effective resolution of 22.3 megapixels; others
boast upwards of 36 megapixels.

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Sensor design
Most digital cameras use
an image sensor that has
a Bayer lter mosaic design.
To capture colour, the pixels
in CCD and CMOS image sensors
are organized in a grid, or
mosaic, resembling a tri-colour
chequerboard (see right). Each
pixel is covered with a lter that
only allows one wavelength of
light red, green or blue to
pass through to any given pixel
location. The lter pattern has
twice as many green pixels as
red or blue to mimic the human
eyes greater resolving power
for green light.
An alternative sensor design is
the Foveon. This type employs
three layers of pixels embedded
in silicon. The layers are
positioned to take advantage
of the fact that silicon absorbs
different wavelengths of light
to different depths. The bottom
layer records red, the middle
records green and the layer
at the top records blue. Each
pixel stack directly captures
all of the light at each point
in the image to ensure it
records colour other designs
may miss.
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Image sensors
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Sensor size
Image sensors are produced in a variety of sizes: so-called
point and shoot compacts employ the smallest; large-
format digital cameras boast the largest. While an increasing
number of high-end DSLRs employ a full-frame sensor
the same size of a traditional 35mm lm frame most
consumer models use a smaller APS-C-size sensor. This is
equivalent to the Advanced Photo System size images,
approximately 25.1 x 16.7mm. This is commonly regarded as
a cropped-type image sensor and effectively multiplies the
focal length of the lens attached, known as its multiplication
factor. The degree of multiplication depends on the size of
the sensor, but typically it is 1.5x. Therefore, a 50mm lens
will effectively be 75mm when attached to a camera with
this cropped-type design. This can be a disadvantage. For
example, traditional wide-angle lenses lose their characteristic
effect, meaning an even shorter focal length has to be
employed to retain the same eld of view. However, when
photographing distant subjects, such as wildlife and action,
the multiplication factor can be hugely benecial.
Generally speaking, the larger the sensor the better
quality the resulting picture will be. Bigger sensors have
larger photosites, capturing more light with less noise, so
images are smoother, more detailed and sharper. For this
reason, it is actually possible for a larger sensor, with fewer
pixels, to capture better quality images than a physically
smaller sensor with a higher resolution.
Multiplication factor
The effect of using a cropped-type sensor (2),
compared to a full frame model (1), is obvious
from these two images.
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Four Thirds system
The Four Thirds system gets its name from the CCD
image sensor it employs. The size of the sensor is 18
x 13.5mm (22.5mm diagonal). Therefore, its area is
3040% less than the APS-C-size image sensors found
in the majority of other DSLRs and its aspect ratio is 4:3
squarer than a conventional frame, which has an aspect
ratio of 3:2. It was devised by Olympus and Kodak with
the intention of freeing manufacturers from the onus of
providing compatibility with traditional camera and lens
formats. The system has subsequently been supported by
Panasonic and Sigma. The diameter of its lens mount is
approximately twice as big as the image circle, allowing
more light to strike the sensor from straight ahead,
thus ensuring sharp detail and accurate colour even at
the periphery of the frame. The small sensor effectively
multiplies the focal length by a factor of 2x, enabling
manufacturers to produce more compact, lighter lenses.
The Four Thirds system is providing a growing challenge
to more conventional systems.
Compact System Cameras (CSC)
More recently, a Micro Four Thirds system (MFT)
was developed by Olympus and Panasonic. This is
a mirrorless interchangeable lens digital camera.
Unlike the preceding Four Thirds system, it is not an
open standard, but it shares the image sensor size and
specication with the original Four Thirds system. The
Micro Four Thirds design, and other compact system
cameras, does not provide space for a traditional
mirror box and a pentaprism. In other words, they
lack an optical viewnder. Instead, users of micro
system cameras use either the rear LCD screen or
an electronic viewnder to compose their images.
The main benet of micro system cameras
over DSLRs is that both cameras and optics can be
produced smaller and lighter, making them ideal for
travel. Also, because they house a signicantly larger
sensor than most compacts, image quality is far
above that of a normal point-and-shoot or camera
phone. Quite simply, they are designed to offer high
image quality in a convenient, compact form.
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Our eyes have a remarkably wide dynamic range
(up to 24 stops of light) and can distinguish
between dark shadows and brightly lit areas with
great speed and accuracy. However, a digital chip
has a much narrower perception and can struggle
to simultaneously record detail in the darkest and
lightest areas. Therefore, if there is a large degree
of contrast within your photo, the camera unaided
will not be able to record all areas faithfully.
To simplify how a sensor records light, it can
be useful to think of each of the sensors millions of
pixels as tiny, photon-collecting buckets. The brighter
the captured area, the more photons they collect.
The level of each bucket is assigned a discrete value:
an empty bucket (pure black) is assigned a value of 0
while a full one is 255 (pure white). Once a bucket
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It is possible to merge several bracketed images
of an identical composition to create a high
dynamic range (HDR) image (see page 180).
This term is used to describe the ratio
between the smallest and largest possible
values of a changeable quantity. Within the
realms of digital photography, it relates to
the range of intensities that the cameras
sensor can record in both shadow and
highlight areas. Also referred to as contrast
range or latitude, dynamic range is a term
that was originally used in audio recording.
Dynamic range
Coastal cliff top
This image just remains within
the sensors dynamic range,
with detail being retained in
both the pictures highlights
and shadow areas.
Nikon D700, 1735mm
(at 19mm), ISO 200, 10sec
at f/22, polarizer, tripod.
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is full, it overows. Anything that overows gets lost;
the value is recorded as 255, even though it actually
should have been recorded as greater. In other words,
highlight detail is lost or clipped. To prevent this,
you can reduce the length of exposure. However,
then the pixels that correspond to the darker areas
of the scene may not have enough time to capture
a sufcient amount of photons and, as a result, might
still have a zero or lower value, resulting in clipped or
underexposed shadow areas.
As a result of a sensors far more limited
dynamic range compared to that of our eyesight,
photographing high-contrast scenes can prove
challenging. It can be difcult, if not impossible, to
achieve a correct exposure in-camera ltration or
combining exposures (using photo editing software)
may be the only practical solution, effectively
extending the sensors dynamic range.
In photography, dynamic range is often
measured in stops of light. The latitude of a digital
sensor is dened by the largest possible signal
divided by the smallest possible signal it can
generate. The largest signal is proportional to the
full capacity of the pixel, while the lowest signal
is the noise level when the sensor is not exposed
to any light. Therefore, a digital cameras dynamic
range will differ depending on the design of the
chip and the manufacturer. The precision at which
light measurements are translated into digital
values is dictated by bit depth. The workhorse that
converts these continuous measurements into
numerical values is called the analog to digital
(A/D) converter. Most modern DSLRs have a 12-
or 14-bit A/D converter, resulting in a theoretical
maximum dynamic range of 1214 stops, although,
in practice, most cameras have a more limited
dynamic range than this. When this range isnt
sufcient, photographers need to look at ways
to extend their sensors capabilities. If shooting
scenics when the contrast range between bright
sky and dark foreground often extends beyond that
of the sensor it is possible to attach a graduated
neutral-density lter (see page 156) to help balance
exposure. Another effective way to retain detail
throughout contrasty scenes is to shoot two or
more photographs of the same scene using different
lengths of exposure and then combine them during
post processing (see page 178).
As technology advances, dynamic range is being
extended. Full-frame models in particular benet from
increased dynamic range due to their larger photosites
and ultimately the need for ltration or combining
exposures may well become a thing of the past.
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To maximize dynamic range, shoot at low ISO sensitivities and in Raw format.
Raw images preserve the dynamic range of the sensor.
You are more likely to clip shadows and highlights in Jpeg.
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Histograms
middle (128, mid-point). Usually, it is best to avoid
peaks to the far right of the graph, as this tends to
be an indication of clipped (overexposed) highlights,
resulting in lost data. However, when assessing a
histogram, it is important to consider the brightness
of the subject itself. For example, a scene or subject
boasting a large percentage of light or dark tones,
such as snow or a silhouette, will naturally affect
the overall look of the resulting graph. Therefore, it
is impossible to make generalizations about what is
and isnt a good histogram. While an even spread of
pixels throughout the greyscale is often considered
to be desirable you will need to employ your own
judgement and discretion.
Digital cameras allow you to view, or overlay,
a pictures histogram in the cameras LCD monitor
via playback, making it easy to assess exposure
immediately after taking the photo. Some models will
even display a live histogram in a Live View mode
(see page 66). The histogram is a far better method
of assessing exposure than looking at the LCD picture
display. This is because it can be difcult if not
impossible to make an accurate assessment of a
replayed photo when there is light reecting from
the monitor. This is particularly true when outdoors.
The histogram is without doubt the most
useful of all the tools available to digital
photographers. It allows you to assess
exposure, and quickly and easily identify
if an image is correctly exposed or whether
it needs to be re-shot with a degree of
compensation applied. Basically, it will
help ensure you never make large exposure
errors ever again.
A histogram is a two-dimensional graph, often
resembling a range of mountain peaks, which
represents an images tonal extent. The horizontal
axis of a histogram represents the pictures range
from pure black (0, far left) to pure white (255, far
right); whilst the vertical axis illustrates how many
pixels have that particular value. If a histogram shows
a large number of pixels grouped at either edge, it
is often an indication of a poorly exposed image,
with either lost shadow or highlight detail. A graph
showing a narrow peak in the middle with no black
or white pixels indicates a low contrast image.
Generally speaking, a histogram should show
a good spread of tones across the horizontal axis,
with the majority of pixels positioned close to the
showing the pixels evenly
distributed throughout the
graph is normally an indicator
of good exposure. However, a
histogram simply tells us how
a picture is exposed, allowing
photographers to decide
whether and how to adjust
exposure settings.
light histogram dark histogram correct histogram
Histograms
A histogram with pixels
predominantly skewed to the
left or right is often (although
not always) an indication
of poor exposure, while one

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Histograms are an essential aid to photographers striving for correct exposure.
By scrutinizing an images histogram, you can ensure highlight and shadow areas
dont clip. Therefore, remember to religiously use the histogram screen on your DSLR.
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Mute swan
Studying an images histogram
will quickly help you to identify
exposure errors and allow
you to correct them there and
then. Predominantly light and
dark subjects usually prove the
most challenging for metering
systems. For example, when I
photographed this swan, its light
white plumage initially fooled
my camera into underexposure.
However, by looking at the
corresponding histogram,
I recognized the problem
immediately, as the graph was
skewed to the left. I applied
positive exposure compensation
to lighten the image and re-shot,
before checking the histogram
again to ensure that the
highlights werent clipped.
Nikon D300, 70200mm
(at 200mm), ISO 400,
1/1600sec at f/8, handheld.
It is worth noting that when shooting in Raw (see
page 68), the corresponding histogram displayed on
the cameras LCD is actually based on a simulated
Jpeg created simultaneously. The actual Raw le
itself tends to have a greater latitude then indicated.
Therefore, even if the histogram suggests that a
photo is slightly overexposed, in reality it may not be
and detail is often easily recovered when processing
the le in your Raw converter.
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Histograms in practice
The general rule when interpreting histograms is to
strive to achieve a reasonable spread of tones, covering
at least two thirds of the graph, with its average slightly
left of the mid-tone point. But, while this might be
ne in theory, in practice it isnt that straightforward,
or even desirable. Deliberately under- or overexposed
images, such as silhouettes (see page 108) and
high- and low-key images (see page 38), will produce
histograms with peaks either towards the far left
(black) or far right (white). Equally, photographs taken
of a scene or subject possessing a large percentage of
light or dark tones will have a corresponding histogram
weighted to one edge of the graph. This doesnt mean
the photograph is incorrectly exposed; the histogram is
simply representative of the subject.
The following three images are all correctly
exposed, yet their histograms appear vastly different.
See how the subject matter affects the resulting graph.
The images help to illustrate that whilst histograms are
an essential aid to exposure, they come in all shapes
and sizes and photographers need to learn how to
interpret them depending on the subject matter.
Knife and fork silhouette
Backlit leaf
Nikon D3x, 150mm, ISO 200,
Snowdrop in snow
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Exposure warnings the highlights screen
Highlights screen
The highlights alert causes groups of pixels that
have exceeded the sensors dynamic range and
are therefore recorded without detail to ash
as a warning. In this instance, the areas of the sky
close to the bright, rising sun are burnt out.
Most digital cameras are designed with
a playback function known as the
highlights screen. This useful function
provides photographers with a graphic
indication of when areas of the image
are overexposed. This exposure warning
can prove a valuable and highly useful
in-camera tool to help prevent you
clipping highlights.
While histograms provide a graphic illustration of
an images tonal extent, helping you assess exposure
overall, the highlights screen or highlights alert
is aimed specically at helping photographers
to avoid highlights burning out. White or very light
subjects in direct sunlight are especially prone to
this. A histogram with a sharp peak to the far right
will normally indicate that an image is suffering
from areas of overexposure. However, the highlights
alert actually identies the pixels that exceed the
value for pure white (255). Pixels that do so are not
given a value, meaning they cannot be processed
and are effectively discarded having no detail or
information recorded. When the image is replayed
on the cameras LCD monitor the pixels falling
outside the cameras dynamic range ash or blink,
providing a quick and graphic illustration of where
picture detail is burned out and devoid of detail.
To rectify this, set a degree of negative exposure
compensation (see page 58) so that the subsequent
frame is recorded darker.
A digital cameras highlights alert is not always
switched on by default. Therefore, consult your users
manual and switch it on when you feel this type of
exposure warning would prove useful. Normally this
is done via the cameras Playback Menu.

+ RGB
Highlight
300-16 RGB

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Exposing to the right
Exposing to the right (ETTR) is a technique
designed to help photographers maximize
image quality. It is only applicable to
photographers capturing their images
in Raw, where the photographer pushes
their exposure as close to overexposure as
possible, but without actually clipping the
highlight areas. The result is a histogram
with the majority of pixels grouped to the
right of mid-point hence why it is known
as exposing to the right.
The argument for exposing to the right is best
understood once you appreciate that camera
sensors count light photons in a linear fashion.
Linear capture has important implications for
exposure. For example, typically, a digital camera
is able to capture around six stops of usable dynamic
range (see page 28). Most DSLRs record a 12-bit
image capable of recording 4,096 tonal values.
However, while you might presume that each
stop of the six-stop range would record an equal
amount of the tonal value total, this isnt so. The
level corresponds exactly to the number of photons
captured so, in reality, each stop records half the
light of the previous one.
Linear distribution
At rst, this may seem a little confusing and
irrelevant. However, in simple terms, what this
signies is that if you do not properly use the right
of the histogram, which represents the majority of
the tonal values, then you are wasting the majority
of your cameras available encoding levels. If an
image is badly underexposed, you are wasting a
large percentage of the data the camera is capable
of capturing. Also, if you then attempt to brighten
it during processing, the tonal transitions will not
be so smooth and the risk of posterization (abrupt
changes in tone and shading) is greatly enhanced.
However, if you do the opposite so that more data
is recorded in the sensors brighter stops, you will
capture far more tonal information. This is easy
to illustrate by simply taking two images one
at a normal exposure and the other successfully
exposed to the right. Now compare the le size; the
difference can be several megabytes, with the ETTR
image being larger with far more data recorded.
To get the most out of an ETTR le, good
processing technique is essential (see page 166).
The unprocessed Raw le will look too bright and
washed out. In fact, ETTR images can look quite
awful when reviewed on the cameras monitor,
which can deter photographers from using the
technique. However, once the image is downloaded
onto your computer and exposure, brightness and
contrast are adjusted in Raw processing software,
the nal image will look correct.
Admittedly, ETTR requires more time, thought
and effort, but the nal result is an image with more
tonal information and boasting smoother tonal
transitions. Another key benet of ETTR is cleaner,
less noisy images. To some degree, noise is present
in all digital images, even pictures taken at low ISOs.
However, it is most obvious in the shadow areas.
By biasing the exposure towards the highlights,
noise is kept to a minimum.
So, while it remains important not to actually
overexpose images to the degree where the value
for pure white is blown, when practical to do so,
it is always good practice to expose to the right.
While the method needs applying with care, and
relies heavily on using the histogram to avoid
clipping, image quality is maximized.
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Exposing to the right means biasing your exposures so that the histogram graph is pushed up
to the right edge, but not to the point where the highlights are blown. It is a ne line between
getting this correct and overexposing the image. Apply positive exposure compensation to
brighten the image, in small 1/3-stop increments, until the graph is nuzzling the right edge.

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64 128 256 512 1,024 2,048 levels (half of total)
While the look of your histogram will vary
depending on what you are photographing,
when adopting the expose to the right
approach, the majority of the pixels should be
right of mid-point. Try to push exposure as close
to the right of the graph as possible without
clipping the value for pure white. The resulting
histogram may look similar to this one.
1 2
Restoring colour and contrast
When exposing to the right, the unprocessed Raw
le may look washed out on the cameras monitor
and when rst downloaded onto your computer (1).
However, as long as you have used your cameras
histogram screen to ensure the highlights arent
actually clipped, colour and contrast can be quickly
restored during conversion (2).
2sec at f/16, polarizer, tripod.
Dynamic range
This illustration represents six stops of dynamic
range the typical latitude of a digital camera.
The majority of DSLRs are capable of capturing
at least a 12-bit image capable of recording 4,096
tonal levels. Half of these (2,048 levels) are devoted
to the brightest stop, half of the remainder (1,024
levels) are devoted to the next stop and so on. The
last and darkest stop on the far left of the graphic
and representing the shadow areas has only 64
levels, so is able to record less detail as a result.
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Contrast is a regularly used term,
describing the subjective difference in
brightness between the light (highlights)
and dark (shadows) areas of an image.
Photographs with a wide tonal range
with dark shadows and light highlights
are said to be high contrast, while
photographs possessing lots of similar
shades are regarded as being low contrast.
Contrast is the difference in visual properties that
makes a subject distinguishable from other objects
and its background. In visual perception, contrast
is determined by the difference in the colour and
brightness of the subject and other objects within
the same eld of view. It can have a signicant visual
impact on our images. High-contrast images have
deeper shadows and more pronounced highlights,
helping to accentuate texture, shape and a subjects
three-dimensional form. A low-contrast image can
appear quite at, with little difference in the density
of its colours or tones, but appear atmospheric and
subtle. Both high- and low-contrast images can work
well combined with the right scene or subject.
Contrast is greatly inuenced by the direction
and intensity of light. It is greater under direct lighting
conditions; for example, point light sources, such
as the sun, or when light is positioned to the side
or directly above the subject. If lighting is diffused, or
the light source is in front of the subject, the degree
of contrast is reduced. A low-contrast image may also
result because of the subject matter or conditions; for
example, photographs taken in fog, mist or smoke will
have little contrast.
An images histogram (see page 30) can be used to
evaluate its contrast. A broad histogram, demonstrating
a wide tonal range from dark to light, reects a scene
with good contrast. However, a narrow histogram
signies low contrast and the resulting picture may
look at. Contrast can be remapped post capture using
tools like levels or curves (see page 172). This is useful
in situations where, due to a sensors limited latitude,
a picture is recorded with less contrast than is faithful
to the original scene. Alternatively, you may simply
wish to alter an images contrast to enhance its impact.
Overall exposure brightness
Misty morning
This photo of autumnal trees, taken early one misty
morning, is a good example of a low-contrast image.
In this instance, the narrow contrast is caused by
the weather conditions and while due to the lack
of contrast the image may look quite at and one-
dimensional, the result is atmospheric and faithful
to the original scene.
High- and low-contrast
These two illustrative histograms demonstrate how
the tonal extent of both a high- and low-contrast
image differs.
High
Low
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Low-contrast images, particular those caused through atmospheric conditions such as mist or fog,
can look very striking. Therefore, dont enhance contrast articially post capture doing so will
destroy your images authenticity.

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'High key' and 'low key' are terms used to
describe exposures that are predominantly
light or dark. High key refers to an image
that is light in tone overall. An image that
is dark, with the majority of the tones
occurring in the shadows, is deemed low
key. While you might imagine that due to
their nature, high- and low-key images
would lack impact, in reality this approach
can create striking results.
High- and low-key images
High key is a photographic style where the image
is predominantly white or brightly lit; in other words,
there is little mid-range tonality. Low key is where
the subject is surrounded by dark tones and in which
there are few highlights. Both styles intensively
use contrast and can be used to convey differing
moods. High-key images are light, bright and often
considered positive, while low-key images are often
dramatic and atmospheric.
High-key images have little or no shadow
and lack contrast, with the subject rendered in a
light tone similar to that of the background. There
are few middle tones and, in addition to the tone
being bright, it will often be quite even across the
image. One of the best high-key subjects is people,
Swan
High-key images are mostly
light in tone, often with both
the subject and background
brightly lit. Photographing
a swan against a light, misty
background created a simple,
high-key result.
Nikon D300, 70200mm
(at 200mm), ISO 200,
1/200sec at f/7.1, handheld.

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Uncurling fern
Low-key images are dark in tone
and rely on either highlights or
colour to highlight the subjects
shape and form.
with the sitter being photographed against a white
background, often dressed in white or light clothing.
Exposure levels generally need to be high, but images
shouldnt be overexposed. With low-key photographs
the tone is dark, and the controlling colour is usually
black. Special attention will usually be given to the
subjects shape, form and curves often emphasizing
them with highlights to provide the pictures
interest and impact. Low-key images tend to have
a reasonably high level of contrast.
Before you take a picture, it is useful to identify
whether or not your subject qualies as high or
low key. Cameras measure reected light, opposed
to incident light (see page 16), so they are unable
to evaluate the absolute brightness of the subject.
Cameras employ sophisticated algorithms to try
to circumvent this limitation, which estimates
the images brightness. This estimate will often
place brightness in the mid-tones and, while this is
acceptable for most subjects, it will often result in
high- and low-key images being incorrectly exposed.
Therefore, high- and low-key images often require
a degree of manual exposure adjustment relative
to what the camera would do automatically. For
example, high-key images often require longer
exposure than recommended, with low-key images
needing less exposure time.
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Histograms for high-key images will often show peaks to the far right,
while low-key images will show peaks grouped left of the mid-tone point.
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Oilseed rape
While all camera settings with the same EV number
will create the same level of exposure, the resulting
pictures can differ greatly. These images were
both taken using the same EV. However, due to the
different aperture and shutter speed combinations
employed, motion is recorded very differently.
Remember that the shutter speed dictates the
amount of motion blur and the relative aperture
determines the level of depth of eld.
Nikon D300 1224mm (at 12mm), EV 10, ISO 100,
polarizing filter, tripod. (1) 1/15sec at f/8 and (2)
1sec at f/32.
The EV concept was developed in Germany during
the 1950s in an attempt to simplify choosing
among combinations of equivalent camera settings.
Every combination of lens aperture, shutter speed
and sensitivity refers to an exposure value for a
given ISO. The EV is a number that when used in
The law of reciprocity (see page 56) states
that the relationship between aperture and
shutter speed is proportional. As a result, a
technically correct exposure can be made
by using a variety of lens aperture and
shutter speed combinations. For example,
if an exposure of 1/125sec at f/5.6 is
correct, then it is also possible to employ
settings of 1/250sec at f/4 or 1/60sec at
f/8 and maintain the same amount of light
reaching the sensor. The exposure value
(EV) number represents all combinations
of aperture and relative shutter speed that
can be selected to produce the same level
of exposure.
Exposure value (EV)

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1
f/1.0 1.4 2.0 2.8 4.0 5.6 8.0 11 16 22 32
1 sec 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1/2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
1/4 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
1/8 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
1/15 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
1/30 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
1/60 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
1/125 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
1/250 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
1/500 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
1/1000 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
1/2000 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
1/4000 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
adjust exposure accordingly. For example, if you
are using 200 ISO, then you need to adjust the
above settings by -1 stop.
The numbers stated in an EV chart relate to
a specic ISO rating, typically 100. If the ISO
sensitivity is different, then you will need to
conjunction with an exposure value chart gives
the appropriate combinations of exposure settings
that maintain the same amount of light reaching
the sensor. For example, 0 EV is equivalent to an
exposure setting of f/1 at 1sec at an ISO sensitivity
of 100. Each time you halve the amount of light
collected by the image sensor for example,
by doubling the shutter speed or by halving the
aperture the EV will increase by one. Basically,
each one-unit change in EV is equal to a 1-stop
adjustment in exposure. High EV numbers will be
used in bright conditions requiring a low amount of
light to be collected by the cameras sensor to avoid
overexposure, while low EVs will be employed when
there is less available light and a greater degree of
exposure is needed to avoid underexposure.
41
EV charts
The relationship between shutter speed and lens aperture is
proportional make an increase in one value, and you must
make a proportional reduction in the other to maintain the
same level of exposure and vice versa. Therefore, simple
tables of exposure values can be calculated relatively easily
for any given aperture.
Exposure value charts like this may look quite daunting
at rst, but they are actually quite straightforward to
interpret. The value on the left relates to the shutter speed in
seconds and the value along the top refers to lens aperture.
Typically, an EV chart will include an aperture range from
f/1 to f/32 it is unusual for a camera lens to have a range
exceeding this. While the concept of EV may not prove quite
so useful or relevant to photographers today, they do allow
you to take photographs fairly reliably under certain lighting
conditions without a light meter.
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ISO (International Standards Organization)
is a numeric indication of a photographic
materials sensitivity to light. This
standard measurement was originally
used to show the speed of lm. However,
since digital cameras use an image sensor
instead, the term is now used to refer
to the ISO equivalent. Therefore, ISO
signies how sensitive a digital cameras
sensor is to the amount of light present.
When using lm, photographers had to
change lm to alter ISO speed. In contrast,
digital photographers can quickly and
conveniently alter the ISO rating for
individual images.
A digital cameras ISO range varies from camera
to camera, but many today have a large and useful
sensitivity range, typically ranging from either ISO
50 or 100, up to a staggeringly high 204,800 on
some DSLRs. The ISO setting you employ has a
huge bearing on exposure, being directly related
to the combination of shutter speed and aperture
needed to obtain a correct result. For example, at
low sensitivities, more light is required to enter
the camera in order to expose the image. Therefore,
either a longer shutter speed or larger aperture
ISO sensitivity
is required. At higher ISO sensitivities for example,
1600 or 3200 the sensor is more sensitive and
therefore requires less light to obtain the correct
exposure. As a result, a faster shutter speed or
a smaller aperture is needed. Photographers will
usually increase the ISO in order to generate a faster
shutter speed, which is desirable when shooting
action or in low light. However, by increasing the
ISO, digital noise will also be enhanced. Noise
appears like grain, obscuring ne detail and degrading
overall image quality. It is for this reason that it is
best to employ your cameras lowest ISO setting
whenever practical. For example, when using a tripod
or shooting static subjects, it is usually best to
keep ISO at its base setting. However, the high ISO
performance of most modern DSLR cameras is so
good today that photographers can condently work
at speeds of ISO 800 or more without seeing any
great reduction in image quality. Advances in high
ISO performance particularly in full-frame models
are hugely benecial to sports, action and wildlife
photographers who often require rapid shutter speeds
to freeze their subjects movement.
Changes to ISO ratings are measured in stops
just as they are for adjustments to aperture
and shutter speed. This helps to simplify exposure
calculations. Each time the ISO rating is doubled it
is the equivalent to one stop. For instance, adjusting
sensitivity from ISO 100 to 200 will generate 1 stop
of light, ISO 400 will generate 2 stops, and so on.
Robin
To generate a shutter speed fast enough to freeze
this robins movement, I selected a setting of ISO
400. This gave me an extra two stops of light,
compared to the cameras lowest rate. While this
caused a slight increase in noise, it enabled me
to take pin-sharp images that didnt suffer from
subject blur.
Nikon D300, 120400mm (400mm), ISO 400,

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Lighthouse sunset
Noise is almost invisible at low ISOs on modern
DSLRs. When shooting static subjects, such as
landscapes, always select your cameras base
ISO setting in order to maximize image quality.
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When using a high ISO rating, apply noise reduction software during processing to reduce the
image degrading effects. Both Photoshop and Lightroom boast excellent noise reduction.
Standalone programs, such as Noise Ninja, are also excellent.
43 43 43
Noise
In conventional photography, high ISO lms are more
responsive to light due to the fact that the silver halide
crystals are larger. As a result, the lm and the image
produced is grainier, which degrades image quality. In digital
photography, employing a high ISO rating creates a similar
effect, known as noise. This refers to unrelated, brightly
coloured pixels that appear randomly throughout the
image, and is a result of electrical interference between the
photodiodes that form a digital cameras sensor. While noise
will hardly be noticeable at a cameras lowest ISO rating, when
light sensitivity is increased, the interference or signal noise
is also amplied. In principle, the effect can be compared to
turning up the volume of a radio with poor reception. Doing so
not only amplies the (desired) music, but also the (undesired)
interference. Noise can also grow more obvious in pictures
taken using a shutter speed longer than 1sec, as it can amplify
while the sensor is active. For this reason, many DSLR cameras
have a noise-reduction (NR) facility. This works by taking a
dark frame and then subtracting the background noise from
the nal image.
Advances in sensor technology are steadily reducing
the effects of noise, to the point that even at relatively high
ratings, upwards of ISO 800, image quality remains excellent.
However, it is still advisable to always select the lowest ISO
practical in any given situation.
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2.8 4 5.6 8 11 16 22 32
Aperture is the common term relating to
the iris diaphragm of a lens. It consists of
thin blades that can be adjusted inward or
outward to alter the size of the almost-
circular hole the lens aperture through
which light passes. Like the pupil of an
eye, controlling the size of the lens iris
determines the amount of light that enters
the lens to expose the sensor. Varying the
aperture alters the level of depth of eld.
Lens apertures
Most modern DSLRs also allow photographers to
alter aperture size in 1/2- and 1/3-stop increments,
for greater exposure precision.
The f-number corresponds to a fraction of the
focal length. For example, f/2 indicates that the
diameter of the aperture is half the focal length; f/4
is a quarter; f/8 is an eighth, and so on. With a 50mm
lens, the diameter at f/2 would be 25mm; at f/4 it is
12.5mm, and so forth.
A lenss aperture range is often referred to by its
maximum and minimum settings. The maximum or
fastest aperture relates to the widest setting of the
lens iris; while closing it down to its smallest setting
allowing the least amount of light through is the
minimum aperture. Many zooms have two maximum
apertures listed, for example 70300mm, f/45.6.
This indicates that the lenss maximum aperture
changes as you alter focal length.
F-numbers often cause confusion, particularly
among new photographers. This is because of the
way a large (wide) aperture is represented by a low
number, for example f/2.8 or f/4; and a small f-stop
when the aperture is closed down is indicated
by a large gure, like f/22 or f/32. At rst this might
seem to be the opposite way round to what you
would imagine. Therefore, to help you remember
which value is bigger or smaller, it can be helpful to
think of f-numbers in terms of fractions; for example,
1/8 (f/8) is smaller than 1/4 (f/4).
f/2.8 f/4 f/5.6 f/8 f/11 f/16 f/22 f/32
What is a stop?
In photography magazines and books including this
handbook the term stop is regularly used. One of
the keys to controlling exposure is understanding the
signicance of the stop. In the context of photography,
a stop is a unit of measurement relating to light. A stop
is equivalent to doubling or halving the quantity of light
entering the camera either via the lens aperture, ISO
sensitivity, or the duration of the shutter speed (see page
50). For example, if you increase the size of the aperture
from f/11 to f/8 you are effectively doubling the amount
of light reaching the sensor by 1 stop. If you increase the
shutter speed from 1/250sec to 1/500sec you are halving
the length of time the shutter remains open by 1 stop.
Lens aperture is determined by the size of the
hole in the iris diaphragm through which light
passes. Small apertures create the greatest depth
of eld and are denoted by larger f-numbers; large
apertures produce a more limited depth of eld
and are indicated by smaller f-numbers. Apertures
are one of the key variables controlling exposure.

Lens apertures are stated in numbers or f-stops.
Typically, this scale ranges from f/2f/32. However,
it will depend on the lens itself, with some having
more or fewer settings. The f-numbers stated below
relate to whole-stop adjustments in aperture:
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Cowslip
The aperture affects the depth of eld recorded.
A large aperture (lower number) will create
a shallow depth of eld, ideal for isolating a
subject from its surroundings.
Nikon D300, 100200mm (at 200mm),
ISO 200, 1/100sec at f/4, tripod.
Dorset coastline
By selecting a small aperture (higher number),
depth of eld will be extensive ideal for
scenic images. In this instance, I prioritized
a small f-stop to ensure both the boulders
in the foreground and distant coastline were
recorded acceptably sharp.
4sec at f/20, 2-stop ND grad, polarizer, tripod.
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Depth of eld
Adjusting the size of the aperture alters
the speed at which sufcient light can
pass through the lens to expose the image
sensor. Select a large aperture (small
number) and light can pass quickly, so
the corresponding shutter speed is faster;
select a small aperture (large number) and
the exposure will take longer, resulting in
a slower shutter speed. This has a visual
effect, with the aperture determining the
area in your image that is recorded in sharp
focus. This zone is known as depth of eld.
Depth of eld is a crucial creative tool. At large
apertures, like f/2.8 or f/4, depth of eld is narrow.
This will throw background and foreground detail
quickly out of focus, reducing the impact of any
distracting elements within the frame and helping
to place emphasis on your subject or point of focus
ideal for action, portrait and close-up photography.
Select a small aperture, such as f/16 or f/22, and
depth of eld will be extensive. This will help capture
good detail throughout the shot and is particularly
well suited to landscape photography, when you will
often want everything from your foreground to
innity to appear acceptably sharp.
While the lens aperture is the overriding control
dictating the level of depth of eld achieved, it is
also affected by the focal length of the lens, the
subject-to-camera distance and the point of focus.
This is useful to know in situations where you want
to maximize the zone of sharpness without altering
the f-number. For example, longer focal length lenses
produce a more restricted depth of eld than those
with a shorter range. Wide-angle lenses can produce
extensive depth of eld, even at relatively large
apertures. The distance between the camera and
the object being photographed also has a bearing
on depth of eld the closer you are to the subject,
the less depth of eld you will obtain in the nal
image. This is one of the reasons why it can prove
so challenging to achieve sufcient focus when
shooting at high magnications.
Finally, the exact point at which you focus
the lens will affect where depth of eld falls
in the nal image. Depth of eld extends from
approximately one third in front of the point of
focus to roughly two thirds behind it, so it can
be maximized by focusing on the hyperfocal
distance (see page 48).
Wood anemone
It is important to achieve just the right amount
of depth of eld. Too little, and your subject may
not be recorded sharp throughout; too much, and
distracting back- and foreground objects may
become too prominent and conict with your main
subject. To help achieve the right balance, use your
cameras depth of eld preview button if it has one.
Nikon D300, 150mm, ISO 200, 1/125sec
at f/5.6, tripod.

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Corneld
When you require front-to-
back sharpness for example,
when shooting scenic images
prioritize a small aperture to
achieve a large depth of eld.
In this instance, f/16 allowed
me to keep everything within
the frame sharp.
Nikon D700, 1735mm
(at 17mm), 1/10sec at f/16,
3-stop ND grad, tripod.
Depth-of-eld preview button
To ensure the viewnder is always at its brightest (so as
to assist viewing and focusing), cameras are designed to
automatically set the lenss fastest (maximum) aperture.
As a result, what you see through the viewnder isnt
always a fair representation of the level of depth of eld
that will be achieved in the nal shot. A depth of eld
preview button allows photographers to properly assess
how the nal image will appear at the aperture selected.
It works by stopping the lens down to the chosen
f-stop. When you do this, the scene will darken in the
viewnder the smaller the aperture, the darker the
preview but you will be able to assess whether the
aperture selected provides sufcient depth of eld. If not,
simply adjust the aperture accordingly. While this function
can take a while to get used to, it can prove highly useful.
However, it may be helpful to reduce the aperture gradually,
stop by stop, so that changes in depth of eld are more
obvious. The button is usually located close to the lens
mount. Not all cameras have this facility, though. If yours
doesnt, assess depth of eld by shooting a test shot and
then review it via image playback.
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Hyperfocal distance
A lens can only focus precisely at one given
point: sharpness gradually decreases on
either side of this distance. However, the
reduction in sharpness within the available
depth of eld is imperceptible under
normal viewing conditions. Depth of eld
extends about one third in front of the
point of focus and two thirds beyond it. The
hyperfocal distance is the focal point where
the photographer is able to maximize depth
of eld for any given aperture. Calculating
and focusing on this point is important
if you require extensive depth of eld, so
the principal is particularly relevant to
landscape photography. When a lens is
correctly focused on the hyperfocal point,
depth of eld will extend from half this
distance to innity.
Due to the way depth of eld falls one third in
front of the point of focus and two thirds beyond
it, photographers are often advised to simply focus
approximately one third of the way into the scene
in order to maximize depth of eld. While this is a
fairly rough and imprecise method, it is a good tip
and works is many shooting situations. It is certainly
preferable to simply focusing on innity, when the
depth of eld falling beyond your point of focus is
effectively wasted. However, when you require a
large depth of eld to keep both your foreground and
distant subjects acceptably sharp, you should opt for
the precision of focusing on the hyperfocal distance.
While this is a technique that can cause confusion
among photographers, it is not as complex as it
might rst seem. In fact, if you are using a prime lens
with good distance and depth of eld scales on the
lens barrel, it could hardly be easier: switch to manual
focus and align the innity mark against the selected
aperture. However, few modern lenses particularly
zooms are designed with adequate scales, meaning
photographers normally have to calculate and
estimate distance themselves. Thankfully, there is
a variety of depth of eld calculators and hyperfocal
charts available to download online that are designed
to make this far easier. Conveniently, you can even
get hyperfocal distance applications for smart
phones simply enter the f/number and focal
length in use, and it will calculate the distance for
you. For more information, see the list of useful
websites on page 190. Alternatively, below are two
hyperfocal distance charts that cover a range of the
most popular focal lengths, at various apertures, for
both full-frame and APS-C size sensors. Copy the
chart for your camera type, laminate it and keep it
handy when composing and focusing your shots.
Again, switch to manual focus when focusing on the
hyperfocal distance for accuracy.
Frustratingly, even when you have calculated
the hyperfocal distance, it can prove quite difcult
focusing your lens to a specic distance as many
modern lenses have rather perfunctory distance
scales; for example, a lens may only have 1.5ft, 2ft,
3ft, 5ft and innity marked on their distance scale.
This is inadequate and, as a result, photographers
often have to employ a degree of guesswork when
adjusting focus. However, often the hyperfocal point
is less than 12ft (3.6m) away, and most people can
judge distance fairly accurately within this range.
Therefore, if you know the hyperfocal point is, say,
6.4ft (2m), look for an object that is approximately
this distance away, focus on it, and then dont adjust
your focusing until after youve nished taking the
shot. While this method isnt quite exact, it is near
enough. When selecting the hyperfocal distance, it is
worth allowing a little margin for error, by focusing
slightly beyond the exact hyperfocal point.
It is a good habit to employ hyperfocal focusing
whenever practical. It is particularly important when
shooting images with nearby foreground interest.
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When you set the hyperfocal distance, you may notice the viewnder image appears unsharp.
This is because your lens is set to its widest aperture to provide a bright viewnder image, so
depth of eld appears limited. Trust in the technique, though. To get a true representation of
how depth of eld is distributed at the selected f/stop, press your cameras preview button.

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The charts below give the approximate value for the hyperfocal distance, depending on sensor type, focal
length and aperture. Once you have focused on the pre-determined distance, do not adjust focal length or
aperture. If you do, you will need to recalculate. Remember, using this technique, everything from half the
hyperfocal distance to innity will be recorded acceptably sharp.
Focal
length
12 15 17 20 24 28 35 50
Aperture
f/8
3
1
4ft (1m) 5ft (1.5m) 6
1
2ft (2.0m) 9ft (2.7m) 12
1
2ft (3.8m) 17ft (5.2m) 27ft (8.2m) 55ft (16.8m)
f/11
2
1
4ft (0.7m) 3
1
2ft (1.1m) 4
1
2ft (1.4m) 6
1
4ft (1.9m) 9ft (2.7m) 12ft (3.66m) 19ft (5.8m) 39ft (11.9m)
f/16
1
3
4ft (0.5m) 2
1
2ft (0.8m) 3
1
4ft (1.0m) 4
1
2ft (1.3m) 6
1
2ft (2m) 8
1
2ft (2.6m) 14
1
2ft (4.4m) 27ft (8.2m)
f/22
1
1
4ft (0.4m) 2ft (0.6m) 2
1
4ft (0.7m) 3
1
4ft (1m) 4
1
2ft (1.4m) 6ft (1.8m) 9
1
2ft (2.9m) 19
1
4ft (5.9m)
Focal length 16 20 24 28 35 50
Aperture
f/8
3
3
4ft (1.1m) 5
1
2ft (1.7m) 8ft (2.4m) 11ft (3.4m) 17ft (5.2m) 35ft (10.7m)
f/11
2
1
2ft (0.8m) 4ft (1.2m) 5
3
4ft (1.8m) 7
3
4ft (2.4m) 12ft (3.7m) 25ft (7.6m)
f/16
2ft (0.6m) 3ft (0.9m) 4ft (1.2m) 5
1
2ft (1.7m) 8
1
2ft (2.6m) 17
1
2ft (5.3m)
f/22
1
1
2ft (0.4m) 2ft (0.6m) 3ft (0.9m) 4ft (1.2m) 6ft (1.8m) 12
1
2ft (3.8m)
Hyperfocal distance APS-C-size sensors
Hyperfocal distance full-frame sensors
Hyperfocal distance
I took this image using a 1224mm zoom at 12mm,
on a camera with an APS-C size sensor, using an
f/stop of f/16. Using the accompanying chart,
I knew the hyperfocal distance for this combination
was 1
3
4ft (0.5m). I manually focused the lens to
this distance and took the shot, condent that
everything from half this distance to innity
would be recorded acceptably in focus.
10sec at f/16, 3-stop ND grad, 3-stop ND, tripod.
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This is the precisely calibrated length of
time that the shutter remains open to
expose the image sensor. It is one of the
principal controls of exposure, along with
the ISO sensitivity (see page 42) and lens
aperture (see page 44). Generally speaking,
the way shutter speeds work and
their role is easier to understand than
apertures. The majority of images taken
require shutter speeds of just a fraction
of a second, although exposure can take
seconds, minutes or, for a few specialized
forms of photography, even hours.
The shutter speed dictates how motion will appear
in the resulting picture. Basically, a fast shutter speed
will freeze subject movement, suspending action
and recording ne detail, while a slow shutter time
will blur its appearance, creating a visual feeling
of motion and energy. DSLR cameras have a wide
range of shutter speeds, typically from 30sec to
speeds up to 1/8000sec. Most DSLRs also have
a bulb setting that allows the shutter to be opened
for an innitive length of time. Shutter speeds are
generally quoted in stops (see page 44) and the scale
of measurement employed is roughly half or double
the length of time of its immediate neighbour. The
agreed standards for shutter speeds are as follows:
Shutter speed
Bulb setting
A DSLR normally boasts a maximum automatic exposure
of 30sec, although it is 1min on some models. For exposures
longer than this, the camera needs to be set to bulb or
B. Using this setting, the shutter will remain open for as
long as the shutter-release button is depressed, either via
a wireless device or remote cord. The term bulb refers to
old-style pneumatically actuated shutters squeezing an air
bulb would open the shutter, while releasing it would close it
again. When using the bulb setting, exposure has to be timed
manually. Some cameras have an automatic counter on their
LCD to aid precise timing; otherwise, you will need to time
exposures yourself using a watch or the clock/stopwatch on
your mobile phone. When using shutter speeds of this length,
a sturdy tripod is essential to ensure sharp results.
30 15 8 4 2 1 1/2 1/4 1/8 1/16 1/30 1/60 1/125 1/250 1/500 1/1000 sec
Southerndown
The shutter speed greatly inuences the subjects
appearance in the nal image. A fast shutter speed
will suspend fast movement, capturing the nest
detail, while a slow exposure will blur subject
movement. In this instance, I selected a slow shutter
to deliberately blur the movement of the rising tide
and water rushing over the foreground rocks.
To provide a greater level of precision over shutter
times, DSLRs allow photographers to adjust shutter
speeds in increments smaller than stops; for
example 1/2- and 1/3-stop adjustments. This allows
photographers to make very ne alterations to
exposure, helping to ensure they achieve exactly
the exposure and result they desire. In order to have
full creative control over the shutter speed employed,
it is best to either select shutter-priority (see page
61) or manual (see page 63) exposure mode.

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Camera shake is a common problem that occurs
when the selected shutter speed isnt fast enough
to eliminate the photographers natural movement.
The result is a blurred image, effectively ruining
the shot. The problem can be further exaggerated
if using a long focal length lens or shooting at a
high degree of magnication. There are two ways to
rectify camera shake: select a faster shutter speed or
use a camera support, such as a monopod, beanbag
or tripod. A tripod is the best solution, providing good
stability while allowing you to retain your original
exposure settings. However, it is not always practical
to use a support. In situations like this, where you
have no other choice but to shoot handheld, it will
be necessary to select a faster shutter time.
It is easy to overestimate how steady you can
hold a camera, but a good basic rule is to always
employ a shutter speed equivalent to the focal
Avoiding shake
Camera shake is a common
problem, usually caused by
photographers overestimating
how still they can hold the
camera. When I took the rst
image, the shutter speed of
1/30sec proved too slow to
freeze my natural movement.
I used a tripod to take the
subsequent shot, and the result
is razor sharp.
Camera shake
1
2
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Robin
Prioritize a fast shutter speed if you wish to
freeze movement. In this instance, a shutter
speed of 1/640sec suspended the movement
of the singing robin.
Nikon D70, 400mm, ISO 200, 1/640sec
at f/4, handheld.
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Using a fast shutter speed will often result in a wide aperture. Therefore, bear in mind
depth of eld will be shallow. While this will help your subject stand out from its
background, your focusing will need to be pinpoint accurate.
length of the lens you are using. For example, if you
are using the long end of a 70200mm zoom, select
a minimum shutter time of 1/200sec. If your lens
is designed with image stabilizing technology, use
it sharp images can be produced at speeds two or
three stops slower than normal. You can also employ
a larger aperture, or increase the cameras ISO
sensitivity, to help generate a faster shutter speed.
However, this will reduce depth of eld, or increase
noise levels, respectively.
It is also possible to limit the effects of shake
through the way you support your camera. For
example, kneeling is more stable than standing.
Hold your elbows in towards your chest and hold the
camera rmly to your face. Hold it with both hands
and squeeze the shutter-release button smoothly.
Freezing
When shooting popular subjects like sports, action,
birds and mammals, you will often want to suspend
movement capturing it in sharp detail. Selecting
a fast shutter speed will do this, freezing the motion
of moving subjects. However, the speed required
to do this will be relative to that of the subjects
movements; the direction in which it is moving;
and also the focal length of the lens being used. For
example, a man running parallel with the viewnder
will be moving more slowly across the frame than, say,
a travelling car. Therefore, the minimum shutter speed
needed to freeze the runner will be slower than that
for the car, but faster than if the man were simply
walking. If the runner is jogging directly towards the
camera he will be crossing less of the sensor plane
and therefore will require a slower minimum shutter
speed to be rendered sharp than if he were running
parallel across the frame. Using a longer focal length
will mean the subject is larger within the image space,
therefore moving proportionally faster within the
frame than if you were using a shorter focal length.
The exact shutter speed needed to suspend the
movement of the subject you are photographing
will be dictated by the factors mentioned above.
A degree of trial and error is often required to
achieve the speed desired. While many DSLRs are
capable of shutter speeds exceeding 1/4000sec,
in practice, shutter times of 1/5001/2000sec
will often prove more than sufcient.
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Employing a slow shutter speed will blur the
appearance of motion. While this might not
always be desirable, combined with the right
subject the results can be striking, implying
a sense of motion. This type of intentional blur
is commonly used in scenic photography to
record owing water as a milky wash to emphasize
its movement. However, blur can suit all types of
subjects, for example a bustling crowd, crops or
owers swaying in the breeze, cloud motion
or a ock of birds in ight. When you adopt this
approach, a tripod is an essential tool. Blur is
achieved using slow shutter speeds, so without
a support, you will add your own movement to
that of the subjects (see camera shake on page 52)
and the whole scene will be blurred not just the
subjects movement.
The shutter speed required to create blur is,
again, relative to the subjects movement, but
a good starting point is 1/4sec or less. For more
dramatic, pronounced effects, a shutter speed
of 1sec or longer may be required. Subject blur
is a subjective effect some love it while others
despise it. Personally, I love the implied energy
and life it can give to images. Therefore, I regularly
employ a lengthy shutter speed of several seconds
or more in order to blur water, foliage or clouds.
This can create atmospheric, ethereal-looking
results. However, normally an exposure of this
length is only possible in low light or through the
use of neutral-density lters. When taking this type
of image, experimentation is key to achieve just the
right result. Too little blur, and the effect wont look
intentional; too much, and the subject may become
unrecognizable. I strongly recommend that you try
doing your own tests and shutter speed comparisons
it will prove helpful in the long term.
Record in motion
The shutter speed can have a dramatic effect on
a subjects appearance. I shot two images of this
photograph of water cascading onto pebbles: the
rst using a fast shutter speed of 1/500sec (1);
the second using a slow shutter speed of 1/2sec (2).
The contrasting way in which the waters movement
is recorded creates two very different shots.
1 2
Blurring motion
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Panning
Shooting a subject while moving the camera in tandem
with the subjects movement during exposure is known
as panning. The result is a sharp subject with a blurred
background, suggesting a feeling of motion and action.
It is a well-used technique among sports and wildlife
photographers, creating dynamic action shots. To pan
successfully requires quite a slow shutter speed typically
in the region of 1/30sec. Then, track the subjects movement
through the viewnder and continue to smoothly pan the
camera after you depress the shutter-release button. For best
results, try to position yourself so that you are parallel to the
path of your subject this will also simplify focusing and
keep your movement constant from start to nish to ensure
the motion blur in the images background remains smooth.
A steady hand and practice are required, but the results will
make your patience worthwhile.
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To generate long exposures, opt for a small f-stop and select your cameras
lowest ISO rating. If the resulting shutter speed is still not long enough,
attach a solid neutral-density lter (see page 152).
Trebarwith Strand
Extreme exposures of 1min
or longer are possible using
ltration. A shutter speed of
this length will render sea
water smooth and glassy in
appearance and record moving
cloud like artistic brushstrokes.
The technique is subjective, but
one that I like and regularly
employ in my photography.
Nikon D800, 1735mm at
(25mm), ISO 100, 1min
at f/11, 2-stop ND grad,
10-stop ND, tripod.
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In photography a reciprocal value is used
to explain the relationship of aperture
and shutter speed. The law of reciprocity
refers to the inverse relationship between
the intensity and duration of light that
determines the exposure of a light-
sensitive material, such as an image
sensor, for example.
Reciprocity
1/250 1/125 1/60 shutter speed
The law of reciprocity states that exposure = intensity
x time. Therefore, the correct exposure can be retained
by increasing duration and reducing light intensity,
or vice versa. Put simply, if you adjust aperture or
shutter time, it must be accompanied by an equal
and opposite change in the other to maintain parity.
Therefore, if you double the amount of light reaching
the sensor, by selecting a larger aperture, you also
need to halve the length of time the sensor is exposed
in order to maintain a correct exposure, or vice versa.
To give you an example, the following list of
aperture/shutter speed combinations all let in the
same light despite appearing vastly different
and are, therefore, reciprocal: f/1.4 at 1/2000sec,
f/2 at 1/1000sec, f/2.8 at 1/500sec, f/4 at 1/250sec,
f/5.6 at 1/125sec, f/8 at 1/60sec, f/11 at 1/30sec,
f/16 at 1/15sec, f/22 at 1/8sec and f/32 at 1/4sec.
However, it is worth noting that, while the
above settings would all retain the same overall
level of exposure, the resulting images would
Reciprocity law failure
Although it is often referred to as the law of reciprocity, it
is actually more of a general rule. This is because reciprocity
can begin to break down at extreme exposures, particularly
at lengthy shutter speeds of several seconds. This is known
as reciprocity law failure. Although image sensors are far
less prone to this problem than lm, digital photographers
should still be aware of the effect.
Light-sensitive materials grow less sensitive to light
the longer they are exposed, so when shooting at shutter
times upwards of a second, it may be necessary to increase
exposure time beyond the law of reciprocity to compensate.
The effect can be monitored by reviewing images on
the cameras monitor. However, as digital sensors are far
less affected by the duration of exposure, little, if any,
compensation should be required.
Reciprocity can also break down at extremely high
levels of illumination at very short exposures, but while this
can prove a concern for scientic and technical work, it rarely
applies to general photography.
f/4 f/5.6 f/8 aperture
actually look radically different. This is due
to the shift in depth of eld (see page 46)
created by adjusting aperture, and also the
way different shutter speeds record motion
(see page 54).

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Common frog
When I photographed this frog, I took two frames.
For the rst image (1), I employed an exposure of
f/2.8 at 1/500sec, while for the subsequent frame
(2) I adjusted the settings to f/16 at 1/15sec.
Although the exposure value for both images is,
in fact, identical, the two images appear radically
different due to the shift in depth of eld created
by the contrasting apertures.
Nikon D300, 150mm, ISO 200, handheld.
1
2
St Michaels Mount
I took this photograph using a lengthy 30sec
exposure to intentionally blur the rising tide.
For lm users, an exposure of this length would
likely cause the failure of the law of reciprocity
requiring extra exposure and a large degree of
guesswork. However, digital sensors are greatly
unaffected by this problem and, in this instance,
I didnt have to make any alterations to the
cameras recommended settings.
30sec at f/22, polarizer, 3-stop ND filter, tripod.
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Despite their sophistication and accuracy,
metering systems are not infallible.
If we always relied on our cameras
recommended exposure settings,
there would be times when our results
were either under- or overexposed.
Photographers need to be aware of this
and be able to compensate when required.
Light meters work on the assumption that the
subject being photographed is mid-tone. While
this is normally ne, they can incorrectly expose
subjects that are considerably lighter or darker.
For example, very dark subjects will often be
recorded overexposed, as the meter will take
a reading designed to render them mid-tone.
Conversely, very light subjects may fool the
camera into underexposing them, making them
appear darker than reality.
Thankfully, once you know this and with
a little experience the errors your metering
system is likely to make are easy to predict and
compensate for. For instance, a subject that is
signicantly lighter than mid-tone, like a wintry
scene or a pale ower, is likely to be underexposed
by your camera, so select positive (+) compensation
Exposure compensation
(longer exposure). In contrast, if the subject is
much darker than mid-tone, it is likely to be
rendered overexposed by your cameras metering.
Therefore, apply negative (-) compensation (shorter
exposure). The exact amount of positive or negative
compensation required will depend on the subject
and lighting. This is not always easy to judge, but by
regularly reviewing your photographs histogram (see
page 30), you will be able to make the appropriate
adjustments relatively easily. Alternatively, you could
bracket exposures to help guarantee a correct result.
You may also want to apply exposure compensation
to creatively make your images lighter or darker, or
in order to expose to the right (see page 34). It is a
highly useful camera function that you must feel
comfortable and condent using.
When required, applying exposure compensation
is quite straightforward. If you are using manual
exposure mode (see page 63), simply manually dial
in the type and level of compensation required by
moving the exposure indicator either toward the +
or - symbol in the exposure display visible through
the viewnder, or on the cameras LCD. If shooting
in one of the cameras automatic or semi-automatic
modes, use your DSLRs exposure compensation
facility to set the level of compensation required.
Usually this involves depressing a dedicated exposure
compensation button indicated by a -/+ symbol
Correcting exposure
This is a typical example of
how a subject can deceive
your metering system. When
I photographed this gull, the
camera attempted to record
its bright, white plumage
as mid-tone, so the result is
underexposed. I quickly dialed
in a positive compensation of
one stop and the subsequent
image is correctly exposed.
Pentax K10D, 55200mm
(at 200mm), ISO 200, 1/800sec
at f/5.6, handheld.

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while simultaneously rotating one of the cameras
command dials to dial in the exact level of positive or
negative compensation required. Compensation can
usually be applied in precise, 1/3-stop increments.
Having nished taking your shot, remember to
return exposure compensation to +/-0 fail to do so
and the same level of compensation will be applied
to all future images, which will result in incorrectly
exposed results.
Exposure bracketing
Bracketing is when you take multiple photographs
of an identical scene or subject, using different
exposure settings. The idea is that one of the
resulting frames will be perfectly exposed. Typically,
the photographer will take one frame using the
cameras recommended light reading, before shooting
an under- and overexposed frame using an increment
of up to one stop. However, for added precision, it
is often better to shoot a larger bracketed sequence
of seven or even nine frames, each taken at 1/3-
or 2/3-stop increments either side of the original
setting. Although this can be done manually either
by using exposure compensation or by shooting in
manual exposure mode (see page 63) many DSLRs
are designed with an automatic bracketing program.
This feature allows the user to select the number
of images in the series, and the level of exposure
increment. The photographer can then later compare
the images from the series, before deciding which
one is the most accurate.
Bracketing is a highly useful and effective
method of obtaining the correct exposure. While
there is no need to bracket every shot, it is a
technique well suited to situations where it is difcult
to determine the exact exposure; for example, when
the light is contrasty or very changeable, or when
shooting very bright, reective or backlit subjects
that can fool your cameras metering system.
Bracketing is also a useful precaution for beginners,
who are more liable to make the odd exposure error.
Bracketing played an essential role in lm
photography. However, there is less need to bracket
settings today with the advent of digital capture as,
thanks to histograms, exposure can be assessed at
the time of capture. Also, a degree of exposure error
can be easily corrected post capture. However, if the
light is changing quickly and you havent time to
scrutinize histograms, quickly shooting a bracketed
sequence can prove a good option in order to
guarantee a perfectly exposed result.
Bracketing
This sequence helps illustrate how bracketing
works. Misty conditions can fool a cameras
metering system into underexposing results,
so I captured a sequence of ve images, the rst
taken at my cameras recommended setting then
subsequent frames at -1EV, -2EV, +1EV and +2EV.
In this instance, the image taken at +1EV proved
the correct exposure.
f/11, tripod.
- 2
-1
0
+1
+ 2
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DSLRs have a choice of exposure mode,
each one offering a varying level of control.
Many cameras boast a number of pre-
programmed modes designed to optimize
settings for specic conditions or subjects.
However, photographers often prefer to
rely on the core four, which are: program,
aperture-priority, shutter-priority and
manual. They are often referred to as the
creative modes affording a greater
degree of control over exposure.
Your choice of exposure mode is important, as it
has the potential to greatly alter the look of the
nal image. Therefore, it is wise to be familiar with
the purpose of each, so you can match the most
appropriate mode to the conditions or subject.
Exposure mode programs
Programmed auto
Programmed auto (P) is a fully automatic mode.
The camera itself selects the aperture and shutter
speed combination, allowing the photographer to
concentrate on composition alone. DSLRs are so
sophisticated today that this mode can be relied
upon to achieve correctly exposed results in the
majority of situations. However, as the camera is
in complete control of the exposure equation, this
mode can stie creativity and artistic interpretation.
After all, a camera is simply a machine. It cannot
predict the effect you are striving to achieve;
therefore, programmed auto mode is best employed
for snapshot photography only. If you want to full
your photographic potential, dont use it as your
default setting. Instead, grasp control back from the
camera by using S, A or M modes.
you need greater control over
exposure and should switch
to a semi-automatic mode
or manual.
Beach huts
My cameras programmed auto
mode was ideally suited for this
snapshot. However, if you want
to improve your photography,
Nikon D700, 1735mm (at
20mm), ISO 200, 1/100sec
at f/8, polarizer, handheld.

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In shutter-priority (S or Tv) auto mode, the
photographer manually sets the shutter speed,
while the camera selects a corresponding aperture
to maintain an overall correct exposure. Typically,
shutter speeds can be set to values ranging from
30sec to 1/4000 or even faster on some models.
This mode is most useful for determining the
appearance of motion (see page 54). For example,
if you wish to blur subject movement, then you
should select a slow shutter speed. Exactly how
slow depends on the speed of the subjects motion,
but an exposure in the region of 1/2sec is usually
a good starting point. In contrast, if you wish
to freeze the subjects motion, then you should
prioritize a fast shutter speed. Again, the setting
should be dictated by the speed of the subjects
movement. For example, a fast-moving subject will
naturally require a quicker shutter speed in order to
freeze it. However, an exposure upwards of 1/500sec
should prove sufcient to capture all but the fastest
action. Shutter-priority mode is a useful method for
quickly selecting a sufciently fast shutter speed
to eliminate the risk of camera shake in situations
where it is impractical to use a tripod.
Shutter-priority auto
Bird movement
When photographing moving
subjects, the shutter speed you
employ will affect the feel and
look of the resulting image.
Select a shutter speed too fast,
or too slow, and the shot may
be ruined. For example, the rst
two images in this sequence
(1, 2) suffer from subject blur.
However, by using shutter-
priority mode to select a faster
exposure of 1/500sec, I was able
to freeze the birds movement
on my third attempt (3).
Nikon D200, 100300mm (at
300mm), ISO 200, f/8, tripod.
1 2
3
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If there isnt sufcient light to use a fast enough shutter speed to capture the
subjects movement, select a larger aperture or use a higher ISO sensitivity.
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This is arguably the most popular mode among
enthusiasts. Aperture-priority (A or Av) is similar in
principle to shutter-priority but works in reverse. So,
the photographer manually selects the lens aperture,
while the camera automatically sets a corresponding
shutter speed depending on the meter reading.
The f-stop selected dictates the depth of eld
available: the smaller the aperture, the more depth of
eld and vice versa. Therefore, this mode is intended
to give photographers full creative control over depth
of eld (see page 46).
Depth of eld can be used creatively in many
ways. For example, scenic photographers often require
foreground-to-background sharpness. Therefore,
aperture-priority mode is a quick method to select
the small aperture required to ensure the foreground,
middle distance and background are all rendered
crisply. The resulting shutter speed is often immaterial,
as the subject is static and a tripod is usually used.
Alternatively, you might want to select a large
aperture to purposefully create a shallow depth of
eld. This can be helpful if you wish to place emphasis
on your point of focus or to isolate your subject from
its surroundings useful when taking portraits or
shooting oral close-ups. It is important to note the
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Despite its name, aperture-priority is also a quick way to set the fastest or slowest shutter
speeds. To select the quickest shutter speed, set the aperture to its widest setting; to select
the slowest shutter speed simply set the narrowest aperture available.
The windy post
In order to keep everything
in focus, from the foreground
stream and rocks to the distant
cross and moorland, I needed to
prioritize a large depth of eld.
Using aperture-priority mode,
I selected an aperture of f/22,
which provided the wide depth
of eld needed.
Nikon D300, 1024mm (at 10mm),
ISO 200, 8sec at f/22, 3-stop ND
grad, 3-stop ND, tripod.
Banded demoiselle
When I photographed this
damsely, I opted for aperture-
priority mode to enable me
to intentionally select a large
aperture to create a shallow
depth of eld. This helped
isolate the insect from its
surroundings.
1/60sec at f/4, reflector, tripod.
Aperture-priority auto
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range of apertures available is not determined by the
camera itself, but by the lens attached. This will vary
depending on its speed, determined by its maximum
aperture (smallest f-number).
As the name suggests, manual (M) mode overrides
the cameras automatic settings. The photographer
sets the value for both aperture and shutter speed,
providing them with full control over the exposure
equation. Without doubt, this is the most exible
exposure mode, but it is also the mode that relies
most heavily on the photographers knowledge
and input.
The user can set a shutter speed within the
cameras range and select an aperture within the
minimum and maximum value of the lens attached.
Similar to the other exposure modes, the camera
takes a light reading from the scene or subject
when the shutter-release button is semi-depressed.
However, the camera doesnt apply the values to
the exposure settings. Instead, the information is
displayed in the viewnder and/or LCD control panel,
and is left to the discretion of the photographer.
Thanks to the control that manual mode
provides, it is quick and simple for photographers
to tweak the cameras recommended settings; for
example, in very bright, dark or contrasty conditions
the cameras metering system may be fooled, but
by using manual mode it is easy to compensate
accordingly. Or, you may want to ignore the
recommended settings in order to expose creatively.
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If you are using a handheld meter
(see page 17), set your camera to manual
mode so that you can implement
the suggested settings.
Misty morning
I was concerned that the light
reecting from the morning
mist would trick the camera
into underexposing this scene.
Using the manual mode, I was
quickly able to adjust exposure
settings to compensate.
Manual
Nikon D700, 2470mm
(at 40mm), ISO 200, 1/60sec
at f/11, 2-stop ND grad, tripod.
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In additional to the traditional core
four exposure modes, most DSLRs boast
a variety of subject-biased programs.
Often termed as picture or subject
modes, the programs are developed
to bias settings according to a specic
type of photography. Basically, they are
variations of programmed-auto mode
(see page 60), with the camera setting
both lens aperture and the corresponding
shutter speed.
Auto picture modes
Sports
The subject is presumed to be moving,
so the camera automatically employs a
fast shutter speed to freeze movement. As a result,
a wide aperture is selected and depth of eld will
be shallow. The camera will be set to continuous AF
and also continuous shooting, so it can record action
sequences. In addition to sports, this mode is well
suited to any moving subject, for example, running
animals, ight and moving vehicles.

Portrait
In this instance, the
camera selects the best
aperture and shutter speed
combination for portrait and
people photography. A wide
aperture is prioritized to
intentionally soften and blur
background detail. For the
best results, try using a short
telephoto lens (70100mm).
By selecting one of the pre-programmed modes,
such as sports, portraits or close-up, the camera
knows whether to give priority to shutter speed,
as it would for sport, or aperture, as it would for
scenic subjects. Admittedly, picture modes dont
offer photographers the same level of control
as shutter-priority, aperture-priority or manual.
However, they are well suited to beginners who
are still unsure about which exposure settings to
select in specic shooting conditions.
Picture modes are found on the majority of
digital cameras particularly entry-level models.
They are usually represented with appropriate
symbols on the cameras mode dial. The number
and type included will vary depending on the make.
Featured below is a small handful of the most
popular picture modes included on many DSLRs.
DEH_Ch1.indd 64 27/11/2012 16:14
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Landscape
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Auto picture modes can prove a quick, hassle-free method of selecting appropriate
settings for the scene or subject you are photographing. However, they offer
the user limited creative control, so use them sparingly.
In this mode, the camera will give priority
to a large depth of eld, to maximize
background-to-foreground sharpness. It will also
attempt to set a shutter speed sufciently fast to
prevent camera shake. The ash system will be
disabled, as the subject is presumed to be too far away.
Close-up
The camera attempts
to select the best f-stop
and shutter speed combination to
provide enough depth of eld
to render close-up subjects in
focus. The camera automatically
activates the central AF sensor,
assuming that the subject will be
positioned centrally in the frame.
This mode is suited to all types of
close-up subjects, such as plants
and insects.
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to accurately compose photographs and eliminating
the risk of distracting, unseen elements creeping
into the edges of the frame. Understandably, Live
View is becoming an increasingly popular way
to compose and focus images. It is possible to
zoom into specic areas of the projected image in
order to ne-tune focusing. This is ideally suited
to positioning your point of focus with maximum
precision focusing on the hyperfocal distance
(see page 48), for example, or when working with
a very shallow depth of eld.
Live View is also useful when you wish to
compose images from a high or low viewpoint,
when it isnt easy or practical to look through the
viewnder itself. The continuous image displayed
on the LCD helps ensure you are getting composition
right, even when your eye isnt pressed to the
Live View or Live Preview is now a
standard camera feature, found on all
new digital cameras. Effectively, it allows
photographers to use their cameras LCD
monitor as a viewnder. This is possible
thanks to the camera continuously and
directly projecting the image from the
sensor onto the LCD screen.
Put simply, Live View allows photographers to
preview the photograph they are about to take,
providing an alternative to using a viewnder.
While many viewnders have a slightly restricted
viewnder coverage of between 9498%, Live View
displays 100% of the image area, making it easier
Live View
Vari-angle screens
Some DSLRs come with an articulating screen with
a hinge or pivot, allowing photographers to change
the screens position. This type of vari-angle design

is ideal when shooting from awkward perspectives,
like high or low viewpoints, and allows for
convenient and comfortable viewing.
DEH_Ch1.indd 66 27/11/2012 16:14
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viewnder. Also, on some models, it is possible to
use Live View in combination with your cameras
depth-of-eld preview button (see page 47). As a
result, it allows you to accurately review the extent
of depth-of-eld achieved at any given aperture. Live
View will still operate adequately in low light and on
some cameras it is possible to simultaneously view
a live histogram to help ensure exposure settings
are correct before releasing the shutter a useful
exposure aid. On some models, it is also possible
to overlay a rule of thirds (see page 73) grid to aid
composition and also other useful features, like
virtual horizon, which acts like an in-camera spirit
level to help you capture level horizons.
67
Live View
Live View is an excellent digital tool, capable of
aiding composition and focusing, while also helping
photographers to achieve a correct exposure.
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Most modern cameras also have the ability to capture movie clips and audio. The latest models
are capable of capturing full High Denition (HD) (1080p) movies in 30p, 25p and 24p with
a recording time of up to 30min, providing fresh photographic opportunities.
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File formats
Digital images can be captured, and stored,
in different le types. The format of the
digital le plays a key role, helping to
determine image quality, size and the
amount of memory that the picture will
use on the storage card, and on your
computer. The majority of digital cameras
allow you to capture images in Jpeg or Raw
format, with many higher-specication
models offering the extra option of Tiff
format. Also, once downloaded onto a
computer, they can be saved as a number
of other le types, such as a DNG (Digital
Negative) or PSD (Photoshop document).
Raw
Put simply, a Raw le is unprocessed data. It is a
lossless le type and often considered the digital
equivalent to a lm negative. Unlike Jpegs or Tiffs,
the shooting parameters are not applied to the image
at the time of capture, but are kept in an external
parameter set that is accessed whenever the Raw le
is viewed. Once downloaded, a Raw le needs to be
processed using compatible Raw conversion software
(see page 170). It is at this stage that you can ne-
tune the image and adjust the shooting parameters
like sharpness, contrast and white balance.
Raw is a relatively forgiving format with
comparatively wide exposure latitude, so it is also
possible to correct a degree of exposure error
during conversion. Once processing is complete,
Raw images should be saved as a different le type
typically Jpeg or Tiff but the original Raw le
remains unaltered.
Raw is a exible le type and image quality
is the highest possible. Therefore it is the preferred
format for many photographers. While there are
many advantages to shooting in Raw, the larger size
of the les means they consume card and disk space
more readily. Also, being larger, the les take longer
to open and due to the necessity of having to
process Raw les more time is required in front
of a computer.
Jpeg Joint Photographic Experts Group
Jpegs are a lossy le type, meaning some data
is discarded during compression. The pre-selected
shooting parameters, such as white balance and
sharpness, are applied to the image in-camera.
Therefore, after the le is transferred from the
cameras buffer to the memory card, the photograph
is ready to print or use after download. This makes
Jpegs ideal for when you want to produce the
end result quickly and with the minimum of fuss.
However, the le is less exible as a result, and it
is trickier to alter the shooting parameters during
processing. So, if you do make a technical error, you
are less likely to be able to salvage the photo than
if you had made the same mistake shooting in Raw.
Digital cameras allow you to shoot Jpegs in
different quality settings and sizes typically Fine,
Normal and Basic. You can also capture either L
(large), M (medium) or S (small) Jpegs (exact image
size will vary depending on the resolution of the
camera). The Basic and Normal settings along
with smaller le sizes are ideal if you are taking
snapshots, want lower resolution images to send via
email or only intend printing below 10 x 8 in size.
However, for optimum image and print quality, it is
best to always shoot in Jpeg Fine, set to its largest
resolution. Although a convenient and popular le
format, each time a Jpeg is re-saved, data is lost;
so this should be taken into account if you plan on
making future adjustments to the le.
Tiff Tagged Image File Format
In addition to Raw and Jpeg les, some DSLR cameras
are also capable of capturing images as Tiffs. These are
lossless les, so photographers who shoot in Raw often
tend to save and store their images in Tiff format once
the original le has been processed. However, shooting
in Tiff in the rst instance has its disadvantages, as it
is a fully developed le with the pre-selected shooting
parameters already applied similar to shooting in
Jpeg. Therefore, it cannot be adjusted with the same
impunity as a Raw le. In addition to this, unlike
compressed Jpegs, Tiffs are large, lling memory cards
quickly and slowing the cameras burst rate. Therefore,
they are a less practical le type for image capture.
Instead, Tiffs are a format better suited to storing
converted Raw les.

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Compression
Due to their large size, when digital images are captured they
are normally compressed in some way. The reduction in le
size allows more images to be stored in a given amount of
disk or memory space. There are two forms of compression:
lossless and lossy. As the name suggests, lossless (LZW)
compression stores images without losing any information
so image quality is optimized. In contrast, some information
is discarded when lossy les are compressed the greater the
compression, the more detail that is lost. This will not often
result in a visible drop in picture quality and, being smaller
in size, i.e. bytes, not its physical dimensions they are not
quite so memory-intensive. There are pros and cons to both
types of compression, but to maximize image quality it is
best to opt for a lossless le type, such as Raw.
Picture quality
To help illustrate how image quality is affected
by compression, I saved this image of a large red
damsely (1) at different compression ratios.
It is easiest to show image quality by enlarging
just a small section. The second image shows the
original Tiff. The image quality of the Jpeg set to its
Finest setting (3) is comparable to the Tiff, with
no discernable difference between the two. Even
at a Normal form of compression, image quality
remains good (4). However, at the Basic setting
(5), compression is high, leading to a signicant
loss of image data and picture quality.
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Exposure in practice

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A good understanding of exposure is
essential to creative photography. Only
when equipped with this knowledge can
you fully grasp creative control of your
digital camera. It will help you to adjust
the shooting parameters condently and
make the right decisions when taking
pictures on a day-to-day basis.
You may understand the mechanics of exposure,
but this knowledge means little unless you put the
theory into practice. There are no general hard and
fast rules when taking pictures the way you apply
exposure will be dictated by the subject, light and
the result you wish to achieve. Every picture-taking
opportunity is unique and should be treated as such.
Different subjects will require a different approach.
For example, when shooting landscapes, achieving
a wide depth of eld is often a priority, requiring
the selection of a small f-stop. In contrast, when
shooting sports or wildlife, a fast shutter speed
is often needed in order to freeze rapid action.
The exposure equation can be manipulated
in lots of different ways, according to the subject,
but knowing when to apply which settings takes
time and experience. This chapter is dedicated
to exposure in practice looking at its effect and
role in combination with a handful of traditionally
popular photographic subjects. However, while
the following pages will hopefully help you and
provide a good guideline, it is only through taking
your own images that things really begin to
make sense. There is no better way of learning
than by doing
Afterglow
Through experience I knew a slow shutter speed
would suit this scene, reducing the waters
movement to an ethereal blur for a creative result.
Nikon D700, 1735mm (24mm), ISO 200,
20sec at f/20, 3-stop ND, tripod.

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Rules are there to be broken, but when it comes to
composition, the so-called rule of thirds is a reliable
and effective guideline. It was rst developed by
painters centuries ago, but remains just as relevant
to visual artists today.
The idea is to imagine the image space split into
nine equal parts by two horizontal and two vertical
lines. In fact, some DSLRs can be programmed to
overlay a rule of thirds grid in the viewnder or
Live View to aid composition. The points where the
lines intersect are, compositionally, very powerful.
Therefore, by simply placing your subject, or a key
Portland Bill
In this image the horizon is positioned so that
the sky forms one third and the foreground two
thirds of the image space. Also, the lighthouse
is intentionally placed roughly one third into
the frame. The composition appears far stronger,
with a better balance, than if the lighthouse
and horizon had been placed centrally.
Compositional rule of thirds
element within the scene, at or near a point where
the lines intersect you will create a more balanced,
stimulating composition overall. This rule is relevant
to all subjects, but particularly to those featured in
this chapter.
Generally speaking, by using this approach, you
will create images with more depth, balance, energy
and interest than if you had placed your subject
centrally in the frame. While you shouldnt always
conform to the rules, follow this age-old guide and
your images will be consistently stronger as a result.
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Landscape photography
A good working knowledge of exposure
is essential for whatever subject you
photograph. However, it could be argued
that this is never more important than
when shooting scenics. Landscape
photography is one of the most popular
and accessible subjects, but while anyone
can take a decent snap of the vista before
them, intelligent and careful use of light,
composition and depth of eld is essential
if you wish to capture an arresting view.
One of the most challenging forms of photography
is landscape photography. This is mostly due to the
great changeability of light. Scenic images rely heavily
on the quantity, quality and direction of light for their
impact and drama. However, natural light is constantly
changing. The position of the sun, and its intensity,
alters throughout the day, and also according to the
season. A cameras TTL metering will automatically
adjust exposure depending on the level of light, but it
is still important to be aware of its effect on exposure
and the way it shapes the landscape.
The light during the so-called golden hours an
hour after sunrise and an hour before sunset is best
suited to scenic photography. While the light at other
times of day can still produce very usable results,
particularly if the conditions are stormy or dramatic, it
is dawn and dusk that are best for scenic photography.
At these times of day, the sun is low in the sky. Not
only is the light soft and warm as a result, but the
long shadows cast help to accentuate the landscapes
texture and create a perception of depth.
While the pupils of our eyes work like a
constantly changing aperture, enabling us to see
detail in a wide range of brightness, a camera lens
with a xed aperture is more limited. Typically,
there is an imbalance in light between the sky and
darker foreground. Although this can be negligible,
it can also amount to several stops of light and
the contrast in brightness can often prove too
great for the sensors dynamic range (see page
28). Recognizing this is a key skill for landscape
photographers. This light imbalance needs to be
corrected, otherwise the image will either have an
overexposed sky, if you expose for the ground, or
an underexposed foreground, if you correctly meter
for the sky.
Graduated neutral-density lters (see page 156)
are the only practical method to correct exposure
in-camera and for many scenic photographers they
are an essential tool. Alternatively, it is possible to
shoot two or more exposures of the same scene,
using different exposures, in order to later merge or
blend them during post processing (see page 178).
By doing so, it is possible to produce a result that
is correctly exposed throughout. The aim is still to
create a natural-looking result, though; the technique
shouldnt be confused with High Dynamic Range
(HDR) photography.
Stormy sky
Traditionally, early morning and
late evening, when the sun is low
in the sky, are the best times of
day to shoot scenics. However, if
the conditions are stormy, with
dark brooding skies, it is possible
to capture dramatic scenic
images at any time of the day.
Nikon D200, 1020mm (18mm),
ISO 100, 1/20sec at f/16,
polarizer, tripod.

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Overcast light may often be less dramatic for landscape images, but it shouldnt be overlooked.
In fact, when shooting woodland scenes, dull conditions can often prove best. Bright light ltering
through trees can create high contrast that cannot be corrected using ltration. By intentionally
shooting in overcast weather, it is possible to record colour and detail with greater accuracy.
Coastal sunset
In this instance, I needed to combine two graduated
neutral-density lers equivalent to ve stops
of light to produce a natural-looking result.
This enabled me to record detail in the foreground,
while also preventing the bright, colourful sky
from overexposing.
Nikon D300, 1020mm (18mm), ISO 100,
20sec at f/14, 3-stop and 2-stop ND grads, tripod.
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Composition and foreground interest
foreground to the distant background, and back again.
The rule of thirds (see page 73) is an important tool
for scenic photography.
Scenic images can often be dramatically
improved by including something in the immediate
foreground. However, it must remain in keeping
with the scene and genuinely enhance the overall
composition dont include foreground interest just
for the sake of it. Potentially, almost anything can be
used. For example, a wall, river, rocks and boulders,
owers, crops, fence, footpath or road can provide
your photo with a suitable entry point and help add
depth and scale. Often, this approach works best
in combination with a wide-angle lens. By using a
short focal length and moving quite close to your
foreground, you can stretch perspective and create
dynamic, eye-catching compositions.
Another benet of using wide-angle lenses is
that they possess extensive depth of eld. Therefore,
by selecting a small aperture it is possible to record
everything, from your foreground to innity, in
acceptable focus. It is usually best to opt for an
aperture in the region of f/11 to f/16. This will provide
a generous depth of eld while also minimizing the
effects of diffraction (see box on the left). Remember
to focus on the hyperfocal point (see page 48) to
make the most of the depth of eld available.
Typically, shutter speeds are quite slow when
shooting landscapes. This is because of the relatively
small apertures required, and also the use of
ltration, such as polarizing and neutral-density
lters, which absorb light. So, if you shoot handheld,
camera shake is a genuine concern, even if using a
lens with image stabilization. In practice, a tripod is
essential. Not only will it solve the problem of shake,
but it is also a great compositional aid, allowing you
time to scrutinize and ne-tune your composition.
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Lens diffraction
Diffraction is an optical effect that softens the overall image
quality of photographs taken using very small apertures.
When image-forming light passes through the aperture,
the light striking the edges of the diaphragm blades tends
to diffract or, in other words, it becomes scattered. This
softens image sharpness. At larger apertures, the amount of
diffracted light is only a small percentage of the total amount
striking the sensor. However, as the aperture is stopped down
(reduced in size), the percentage of diffracted light effectively
grows much larger. Therefore, even though depth of eld
increases, image sharpness will deteriorate.
To maximize image sharpness, it's best to opt for your
lenss optimum aperture the f/stop that suffers least from
diffraction. To some extent, this will vary depending on the
quality of the lens itself. The more perfect the aperture
hole, the less light will get dispersed; so it's a good idea to
do your own lens tests by shooting a series of images and
comparing the results. Broadly speaking, f/11 is considered
to be the smallest aperture that remains largely unaffected,
or is diffraction limited, on cropped-type cameras. If using
a full-frame DSLR, this guideline tends to be around f/16.
Using the appropriate f-number for your cameras
sensor type will enable you to maximize image sharpness, but
remember to utilize the full depth of eld available to you
(at any given f/stop) by focusing on the hyperfocal point (see
page 48). When you require a very large depth of eld, dont
be afraid to select a smaller aperture if necessary the effects
of diffraction only grow truly noticeable on larger prints.
While light is a key ingredient to a landscape images
success, if the composition is poor, or the depth of
eld insufcient, the opportunity will be wasted.
Eye-catching scenics are normally the result of
creating an interesting and balanced composition.
This is usually achieved by including some type of
foreground interest, designed to lead the viewers
eye into the frame. However, to ensure everything
within the composition is recorded acceptably sharp,
from your foreground to innity, it is important you
set an appropriate aperture.
When you peer through the viewnder, the key
to good composition is to arrange the main elements
within the landscape so that they form a visually
interesting scene. The composition needs to hold
the viewers attention you need to take their eye
on a journey around the frame from the immediate
Moorland
Practically anything can be used as foreground
interest or a lead-in line, as long as it is faithful
to the scene. Here, the image was composed so
that a large granite boulder formed the foreground,
and helped lead the viewers eye into the shot.
1/4sec at f/16, 3-stop ND grad, tripod.
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Urban architecture
Architecture is all around us. Big or small,
old or new, industrial or residential
buildings come in many shapes and sizes
and can prove highly photogenic. While
houses, ofce blocks, skyscrapers and
places of worship may be designed
and constructed to serve a functional,
practical role, their huge photographic
potential shouldnt be overlooked.
Urban landscapes can be a dramatic subject day
or night. Towns, cities and urban areas are full of
interest and it is possible to capture great images
with just a very basic set-up: a standard zoom will
normally sufce. Often, it is best to opt for strong,
bold compositions, in order to create images with
impact maybe using the shape of one building to
frame another. High and low viewpoints often prove
the most dramatic and, while angles may converge
as a result, this can actually enhance the nal result.
The appearance of architecture alters greatly
throughout the day as the position of the sun changes.
Light and shade help emphasize a buildings form and
design. East-facing buildings receive most light in the
morning, while west-facing structures will be lit in
the afternoon. However, bear in mind that a building
might be in shade for many hours a day, depending
on the position and height of neighbouring buildings.
Therefore, it can prove benecial to visit a location
beforehand, at different times of the day, to observe
how the light affects a building or specic view. The
golden hours of sunlight an hour after sunrise and
an hour before sunset will often provide the most
attractive light, giving buildings a warm, orange glow.
Modern architecture
New developments and modern architecture
can be very photogenic, with eye-catching and
unusual designs. They often suit a very low or high
viewpoint to create arty, abstract-looking results.
1/180sec at f/11, polarizer, handheld.

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Old buildings, often found at the heart of a city,
remain among the best architecture to photograph,
usually with beautifully constructed pillars, arches and
stonework. This type of architectural detail, whether
exterior or interior, shouldnt be overlooked and is
often best photographed in isolation using either a
medium telephoto lens or tele-zoom to crop in tight.
Old buildings can also look good photographed in
context with a modern construction the contrast
between old and new creating visual interest. Modern
buildings constructed predominantly from glass can
look really striking, particularly if photographed along
with some very strong reections of, say, a blue sky or
neighbouring buildings.
When photographing buildings, aperture
selection should be your priority opting for the
f-number that will provide you with sufcient depth
of eld to keep the building sharp throughout. After
all, buildings are static, so the shutter speed is of
no great concern unless you are shooting handheld.
Motion can work well as part of an urban view; for
example, a long exposure will ghost the movement
of pedestrians and vehicles. Therefore, a neutral-
density lter (see page 152) can prove a useful
accessory to keep in your camera bag.
Converging verticals
When photographing architecture, converging angles, or
verticals, is a common problem. This is a term used to
describe the way parallel lines in an image appear to lean
inward to one another. This perspective distortion is created
when we angle our camera upward or downward, which is
often necessary when photographing a tall building from
nearby in order to photograph all of the structure. The effect
is further exaggerated when using a wide-angle lens.
Converging angles can look odd, giving the impression
a building is leaning or falling over. However, the effect can
be used to create some very eye-catching, dramatic or even
abstract-looking results. Therefore, there will be times when
you should actually try to emphasize the effect, rather than
attempt to correct it. You can do this by moving closer to
the building, angling your camera more or by attaching
a shorter focal length.
When converging angles are undesirable, you can
minimize the problem by moving further away and using
a longer focal length. However, this is not always practical
and it may be better to try to correct it post capture using
software. Many Raw converters are designed with tools to
alter perspective. In Photoshop, open the picture and select
the whole image by clicking Select > All. Next, click Edit >
Transform > Perspective. Click and drag the markers until
the verticals are correctly aligned. If you need to increase
canvas size, do so by clicking Image > Canvas size.
Perspective distortion
Converging angles can create the impression
that a building is leaning or about to topple
over. Although the effect can be undesirable,
used appropriately, it can also create some
very bold and interesting results.
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Do not photograph sensitive buildings, such as government-owned buildings, airports and schools,
unless you have prior permission. The authorities may question whether your intentions are purely
creative and, in some countries, you can be arrested for photographing certain buildings.
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Urban scenes and city skylines adopt a special quality
when photographed at night or in low light. Street
and ood lighting helps to emphasize the design and
shape of buildings and, when combined with the little
natural light remaining, can create images bursting
with impact. The best time of the day to photograph
low-light cityscapes is the hour between sunset and
nightfall, when the warm sky will help to enhance
the outlines of subjects. However, while this type of
twilight image can prove highly effective, equally,
they can be hugely disappointing if you get the
exposure equation wrong.
When taking images at night time, the resulting
long exposure can present photographers with one
or two challenges. Shutter speeds may be anything
up to 30sec or longer. Therefore, a good tripod is
essential to keep your camera still during exposure.
Also, release the shutter using the cameras self-
timer, or via a remote device or cord, as physically
depressing the button can create a small degree
of movement that can soften the image.
In a bustling city, there will normally be a
certain amount of movement within your scene
moving trafc or people, for example. Due to the
lengthy shutter speeds you will be employing, this
motion will be blurred, creating some interesting
effects. For instance, the trails of light created by
car headlamps and rear lights will add visual interest
and an extra dimension to your night images.
When photographing in low-light conditions,
meter for the scene in the same way you would
at any other time of the day. Often metering will
Night photography and exposure
Low light
A cameras metering can fail to work well in low
light conditions. By switching to spot metering,
it is possible to take two or more readings from
different areas of brightness within the image.
You can then calculate an average exposure. It is
also worth bracketing to guarantee a correct result.
Nikon D300, 80400mm (280mm), ISO 200,
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remain accurate, despite the lack of light. However,
all meters operate within a nite range in which
they can accurately measure light; therefore
problems can occur if the light levels are so low
that they are beyond a meters sensitivity range.
Review histograms regularly and be careful not to
grossly underexpose results. When working in such
Light trails
It is best to shoot night-time, urban landscapes
within an hour of sunset. The light trails of car
head and rear lights, created by the long exposure
time, can look striking. Therefore, select a viewpoint
where you can include them within the shot. In this
instance, a bus created the unusual streaks of light.
extremes of light, it can prove worthwhile bracketing
exposures. Finally, remember, long exposures can
potentially enhance the effects of signal noise (see
page 43), so turn on your cameras long exposure
noise reduction facility before you begin shooting,
or apply an appropriate amount of noise reduction
using software post capture.
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If you are setting up a tripod on a pavement, be considerate where you position
the legs of your support and be mindful not to obstruct other people.
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Wildlife photography
Natural history photography has a
reputation for being highly specialized,
requiring long, pricey telephoto lenses
and exotic locations. In truth, regardless
of the equipment you own or your budget,
it is possible to take good, frame-lling
shots of wildlife and you may not need
to travel further than your own back
garden or a local park to nd suitable
subjects. Wildlife can be a challenging
and technically demanding subject.
However, by practising your knowledge
of exposure, you greatly enhance your
chances of producing successful results.
Birds
Few subjects are more challenging to photograph
than birds. They can prove difcult to approach
and will y away if disturbed. While a long focal
length, in the region of 400mm or 500mm, will
help particularly if combined with a DSLR with a
cropped-type sensor (see page 26) it is surprising
just how near to the subject you need to be to shoot
frame-lling images, particularly of smaller species.
Therefore, it is best to begin by photographing birds
that are relatively accustomed to human activity;
for example, ducks and waders at a local reservoir
or wetland. Often, they will tolerate a close approach
on foot, so they can prove good subjects with which
to begin honing your skills. Larger birds, such as
Moorhen
One of the best places to begin honing your wildlife
photography skills is a local reservoir, wetland,
park or canal, where the resident bird life is more
tolerant of human activity. This photograph was
taken at a local canal, the moorhen posing happily
while I took photos from just a short distance away.

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geese and swans that are already used to being fed,
can be enticed using some grain. If they allow you
to get very near, try using a short focal length, or
even a wide-angle lens, and, shooting from a low
angle, take a shot that shows the bird within its
environment. The shot will have far more impact
than a standard portrait.
Truly wild birds will rarely allow you to get within
shooting distance by stalking on foot. Instead, a hide
of some sort is required. Compact and collapsible
hides are available quite cheaply, and are perfect
for concealing your whereabouts. Alternatively, try
making your own. Place your hide close to a feeding
station, or a spot where you know, or have been
told, that birds visit regularly. Try to enter your hide
before daybreak, to minimize subject disturbance.
When possible, try capturing an element of
behaviour; for example, a display of courtship,
singing or ight. This will give your bird images
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When looking at photographs of wildlife, we are naturally rst drawn to the subjects eyes.
If they are in soft focus the image will normally be ruined. Therefore, one of the golden
rules of wildlife photography is to always focus on the animals eyes.
more impact and help them to stand out from others.
Flight photography, in particular, is quite tricky, but
the results can look amazing. Keeping the subject
in sharp focus, while you follow their ight path
through the viewnder, is made easier by using your
cameras continuous AF shooting mode, designed to
track moving subjects. To photograph birds in ight,
or other subject movement, you need to prioritize a
fast shutter speed. Naturally, the speed you require
to freeze your subjects motion is relative to that of
the subjects, but, generally speaking, it is best to opt
for an exposure upwards of 1/500sec. In order to do
this, you will probably need to select a large aperture.
Whilst this will help to throw back- and foreground
detail pleasantly out of focus, your focusing will need
to be pin-point accurate as the resulting depth of
eld will be shallow.
Blackbird
When photographing wildlife,
try to capture some form of
behaviour to give your images
more interest and help them to
appear less static. This could
be ight, courtship, hunting
or singing. In this instance, I
triggered the shutter just as
this blackbird foraged for food
amongst the heavy snow.
Nikon D300, 120400mm
(at 400mm), ISO 400,
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Garden wildlife
Whether your garden is big, small, urban or rural, it
can be used to get close to wildlife. Most gardens are
home to a variety of garden birds, small mammals,
amphibians, spiders, snails and insects. Larger animals,
such as foxes, might also visit regularly. One of the
benets of shooting garden wildlife is that, generally
speaking, it is more accustomed to human activity
and therefore more approachable. A focal length in
the region of 300mm or 400mm will often prove
sufcient for birds or mammals, while a macro lens
or close-up attachment is ideal for mini beasts.
What is the ideal ISO sensitivity for wildlife
photography?
There is no right or wrong answer to this. A good general
rule is to employ the lowest practical ISO rating that
provides you with a sufciently fast exposure. This will
depend on a number of factors, including available light
and artistic interpretation. However, a fast shutter speed
is often a priority when photographing wildlife, to freeze
subject movement and eliminate the risk of camera shake
a common problem when using long, weighty telephotos.
While lenses with image stabilizing technology will help
minimize the risk of shake, in low light you may need to
select a high ISO sensitivity to generate an exposure fast
enough to freeze the subjects movement, particularly
if it is running or in ight. While increasing a cameras ISO
from its base setting will generate more noise (see page 43),
thanks to advances in sensor technology, noise remains well
controlled even at ratings upwards of 1600. Therefore, nature
photographers shouldnt be afraid of increasing ISO when
the situation or light dictates. After all, even if image quality
is slightly degraded, this is still preferable to a shaky image
or one with unintentional subject blur.
Meadow Pipit
This image was taken in my back garden during
a cold spell of weather. Birds were attracted
to the food I was placing out for them on my
snow-covered lawn. I lay down close by and,
using a long telephoto lens, photographed
them while they fed.
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Slow worm
This slow worm was photographed in my garden.
Reptiles can be enticed by providing suitable
shelters in your garden, such as corrugated iron
sheets, rubble or wood piles.
Nikon D70, 105mm, 1/125sec at f/13,
ISO 400, handheld.
To entice wildlife nearer to your lens, try placing
suitable food at a predetermined point a technique
known as baiting. Consider the lights direction
(see page 106) before setting up your feeding
station, ensuring that the spot you select receives
ample sunlight at the time of day you intend taking
pictures. Try placing the bait near to a window or
shed that you can then use as a makeshift hide.
Disguising your whereabouts, by hanging camouage
netting over the open window, will enable you to
shoot from the comfort of indoors. You can also add
photogenic props near your feeding station for the
birds to perch on, such as a branch with colourful
blossom, a spade handle or washing line.
Dont overlook the smaller, less obvious
creatures residing in your garden. If you have a
garden pond, or there is one nearby, you may nd
frogs in damp vegetation. A low, eye-level viewpoint
is usually best for amphibians, combined with a large
aperture of f/2.8 or f/4 to render its foreground and
background attractively out of focus. Also, look for
reptiles, snails and small invertebrates. They might
not be the most glamorous of subjects, but they
can create interesting images. Natural light is often
restricted when shooting in close-up. If it needs
supplementing, consider using macro ash (see
page 132) or a reector (see page 120).
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If you are new to wildlife photography, it is worth visiting a zoo or safari park where you can
practise techniques and experiment with exposure. If wire fencing is proving distracting, select
your lenss largest aperture to help throw distracting backdrop detail unrecognizably out of focus.
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People
Practically anyone who has ever picked
up a camera will have taken pictures
of people at one time or another, from
simple family and holiday snapshots, to
professional wedding, portrait and nude
photography. As with any type of subject,
good technique is needed to capture
fresh, eye-catching photographs. However,
the key ingredient to successful people
pictures is having the ability to recognize,
capture and portray a persons mood,
emotion and personality.
Communication
Entire books are dedicated to the skill and art form
of people photography. Even though, theoretically,
a photographer can control light, composition and
the subject, capturing consistently good portraits is
far from easy. Too often, people pictures fail simply
due to the fact that they look unnatural, contrived or
the sitter looks awkward or stiff. Therefore, in many
situations, your ability to communicate putting
your sitter at ease is every bit as important as your
technique and use of exposure.
Unless you are using a professional model, few
people enjoy having their picture taken. Lets face
it, it can be an intimidating prospect. Therefore,
you rst have to ensure your sitter is feeling
relaxed, otherwise they will be uncomfortable and
anxious and your images will reect this. Good
communication skills are essential. Keep talking,
explaining what you are doing and why and ensuring
they know the type of image you are striving to
Friends and family
Generally, friends and family will be happy to be
photographed and will act fairly relaxed in front
of your camera. In this instance, I asked my young
nephew to pose for me. We had fun playing with
different viewpoints and expressions. The natural
light was supplemented using a large reector and
the sky provided a clean, simple backdrop.

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achieve. If possible, show them examples of different
poses and styles beforehand, so that they have a
better idea of what you require from them. This will
be of particular help to anyone not accustomed to
having their picture taken.
When you begin shooting, work condently and
be in control. Offer encouragement to your sitter
and, calmly and politely, give clear instructions on
how you want them to pose and look. As your sitter
grows more condent and relaxed, you will notice
that their expressions and body language appear
more natural and the resulting images will be better.
The relationship between photographer and sitter
is a key factor to an images success. Once you have
mastered this, the job of taking good portraits will
become far more straightforward.
Focal length
The look and feel of the portraits you take is
inuenced by many things. Naturally, your subjects
pose and expression will greatly dictate the images
mood, but focal length is also a key consideration.
A wide-angle lens can be used to create distorted,
wacky portraits, whilst a tele-zoom is normally the
best choice for candid shots. For the majority of
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To give your portraits added mood, consider adding a soft focus lter effect post capture.
Doing so can also help disguise spots or imperfections in your subjects complexion.
Environmental portraits
One method to help reveal your subjects personality is to
photograph them within a tting environment. This type
of portrait might be shot in that persons place of work or
possibly their home for example, a baker in a bakery, a
postman doing his rounds or maybe even a busker in a street
environment. This type of approach can produce unusual,
eye-catching images that reveal far more about the subject
than a standard portrait is able to. The surroundings are of
equal importance to the person you are photographing, so
creating a balanced composition is important. Often, a short
focal length is best a 2470mm standard zoom being a
versatile and effective focal range. In this instance, you will
require a wider depth of eld to keep both your subject and
their surroundings in acceptable focus. An aperture in the
region of f/11 or f/16 should be adequate.
In trouble with the law
Environmental portraits can
reveal or imply so much about
the subject. Using a wide-angle
lens, it is possible to create
eye-catching portraits by
shooting your subject close-up,
with the background portraying
something about your subject.
Nikon D2x, 16mm, ISO 100,
portraits, a short telephoto, in the region of 75mm
to 180mm, will often prove best. This is a attering
focal length that also allows a large enough working
distance to ensure your subject doesnt feel too self-
conscious or intimidated.
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Lighting is a crucial ingredient to any portrait image.
How the subject is lit will not only help determine
their appearance, but it should also complement the
look and mood of the subject. Although for some
types of people photography you will simply have
to work with the ambient light available candid
shots, for example often you will have at least some
control over lighting. Both natural and articial light
are suitable for portraiture and, even if you dont
have the budget or luxury of using a professional
studio environment, it is still possible to create
stunning results in the comfort of your home. In
fact, many photographers prefer using natural light
to illuminate their subject, believing ash or studio
lighting is unable to match the natural qualities of
sunlight. In truth, both types of light have their merits
it depends on the result you want.
While strong sunlight might suit some subjects,
bright but overcast conditions are best for people.
A cloudy sky will act like a giant diffuser, softening
the light and proving attering to skin tone. In
contrast, bright direct light, particularly during midday
when the sun is overhead, is too harsh, creating ugly
shadows underneath facial features and also causing
your sitter to squint. This is one of the reasons why
wedding photographers will often pose people in the
shade of a tree or building.
Daylight can also be used when shooting indoors;
for example, natural light entering a room via a
window or patio doors. If the light is too strong, it can
be diffused by hanging muslin or net curtain across
the window. Be mindful of your subjects background.
Often it is best to keep the backdrop clean, simple and
uncluttered. To help draw attention to your point of
focus typically, your subjects eyes employ a large
aperture in the region of f/4. This will create a shallow
depth of eld that will help throw the background
pleasantly out of focus. It will also help generate
a relatively fast shutter speed that will enable you
to shoot handheld, which is preferable when taking
portraits, allowing you to alter your shooting position
quickly and freely. The drawback of using natural light
is that you cant control it and it has a nasty habit of
changing when you least want it to. For this reason,
many professional portrait photographers spend
much of their working life in a studio environment,
gaining precise control over the direction of light and
the way the subject is lit. Studio lighting can prove
costly, but similar results can be created using two
ash heads. While light can look less natural, a specic
area of the image can be emphasized through the way
it is lit. Even strong, contrasty light can prove effective
when used precisely and appropriately in a studio it
will depend on the effect you wish to achieve.
Georgie
In a studio, it is easier to create some sort of
articial set-up, or utilize props, that can either
complement or conict with your model the
choice is yours. As ever, lighting is a crucial
ingredient. In this instance, the way the model
is lit makes her stand out boldly against her
contrasting environment, creating an eye-catching
and unusual result.
Nikon D2x, 1870mm (at 24mm), ISO 100,
1/60sec at f/10, Bowens lighting kit.
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To lift shadows beneath your subjects eyes
or nose, ask them to hold a reector or sheet
of white card on their lap, angled to reect
light upward.
Light and exposure for portraits
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Candid photography relies on spontaneity. It can
be best described as an unplanned, unposed and
unobtrusive form of people photography, where the
photographer captures a moment of everyday life.
Often, pictures are taken from further away, so that
the photographer remains largely unnoticed. A focal
length in the region of 200mm is ideally suited. As a
result, candid images look completely natural.
Good candid photography relies on timing;
for example, a split second too early or late and
the person being photographed may turn and look
in the wrong direction or change their expression.
Therefore, you need to work quickly.
Wedding receptions, bustling markets, high streets
and festivals are among the places where great
candids are possible. However, some people do
object to having their picture taken. So, if possible,
introduce yourself rst and ask permission.
Presuming they agree, simply wander off and place
yourself strategically within shooting range. They
will soon forget you are there. You can then begin
shooting natural-looking candids.
For this type of photography, a relatively large
aperture of f/4 or f/5.6 is often best, helping to
throw background detail quickly out of focus and
placing greater emphasis on your subject.
Fun on the beach
Good candid images rely on
spontaneity and timing. Your
subject should be unaware of
you and your camera, so that
images are natural and genuine.
However, when photographing
children in particular, always
seek permission from a parent
or guardian rst.
Nikon D300, 2470mm
(at 70mm), ISO 200,
Candid photography
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Still life
For centuries, artists have depicted still
lifes. The term refers to a depiction of
inanimate objects man-made or natural
arranged creatively by the artist. Still life
photography is popular and accessible to
all. You dont even need to set foot outside:
a typical household is full of objects with
huge picture potential. It is a great subject
with which to hone your compositional,
lighting and exposure skills, as the subject
is stationary and the photographer has
complete control over every aspect of
capture. However, that isnt to say it is
easy after all, this is one of the very few
subjects where you have to make the
picture before you can take it.
One of the key skills to still life photography is
having the ability to identify suitable subjects. With
a little thought and imagination you will soon think
of far more original subjects than the clichd bowl
of fruit or vase of owers. Even the most mundane,
everyday objects can create bold photographs. Have
a wander around your home, looking with a creative
eye. Cutlery, stationery, work tools, bottles and jars,
owers, fruit, vegetables and toys are all subjects
with potential either photographed in isolation or
combined with another object.
As you would expect, how best to light your
subject is a key consideration. Some form of articial
light ash or studio lighting, for example will
often be necessary as, typically, you will be working
indoors. Using articial light, a photographer can
control its direction and quantity to create just the
effect desired. However, if you are new to still life
photography, you may nd it easier simply to use
ambient light to begin with. By doing so, you can
see the lights effect on the subject. If you are using
household light, be aware that tungsten light (see
page 118) has a lower colour temperature than
daylight. As a result, a warm, orange cast will affect
exposures taken under tungsten, unless you correct
this via your white balance setting, or during Raw
conversion. Alternatively, use window light, diffusing
it if necessary with muslin or a similar material.
Cutlery
Everyday objects that you wouldnt normally
consider photographing can be transformed
thanks to the three key ingredients to a successful
still life: lighting, composition and arrangement.
In this instance, I carefully positioned a knife, fork
and spoon, using a lightbox to create a simple,
white backdrop.
Pencils
Look around your home and you will soon nd
plenty of potential still life subjects. Often a simple
arrangement is best dont over-complicate things.
While mono can create mood and a feeling of
nostalgia, colour will create impact. In this instance,
I arranged a number of coloured pencils, positioning
them diagonally to strengthen the composition.
Nikon D70, 105mm, ISO 200, 1sec at f/14, tripod.

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Still life images are normally taken close up. While,
for larger arrangements, a standard zoom lens should
be adequate, for smaller subjects, opt for a macro
lens or close-up attachment. A tripod is essential,
allowing you to alter your arrangement knowing
the cameras position is xed and your composition
wont change. It will allow you to make as many
tweaks to your set-up as you want, until you
achieve just the right look and balance through
the viewnder.
You can buy specic still life tables or coving
(a curved white background that makes it easy to
shoot objects against a neutral backdrop). They are
ideal for product photography and are available in
a variety of designs and sizes ranging from small
table-top set-ups to large professional studio tables.
The Magicstudio range by Novoex is ideally suited
to still life work, being compact, portable and easy to
store. However, if you dont want the extra expense,
a table top can easily be used as a makeshift mini
studio. You can even move it adjacent to a window
should you wish to use natural light. Here, you can
begin to arrange your still life.
The background you select will play a signicant
role: the right backdrop will help the subject
stand out, while the wrong one will only hide it.
It is normally best to keep it simple, ensuring it is
complementary to your main subject. A piece of
black or white card, available cheaply from a craft
shop, will create a simple, neutral backdrop.
When you begin arranging your still life, start
modestly. Often less is more when shooting this
style of image and simplicity is best. Look at the
way the light affects the shadows and the shape of
the item. Keep building your arrangement, making
ne adjustments until you are nally satised.
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You can learn a lot from studying still life images published in books, magazines and online.
Notice how photographers often use lines, repeating shapes, contrast and colour. Study the
lighting and collect images you like to help inspire you when youre taking pictures of your own.
Equipment and set-up
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It is impossible to make any general statements
about the exposure settings best employed for still
life photography it will depend on the subject,
focal length and the effect you desire. If you require
back-to-front sharpness, select a small aperture. The
resulting shutter speed may be slow, but this wont
matter as the subject is stationary and the camera
is mounted on a tripod.
To create artistic-looking still life images, select
a large aperture to create a narrow depth of eld.
By doing so, only your point of focus will be pin-
sharp with everything in front and behind drifting
pleasantly out of focus. This can prove to be a very
effective approach, but still life photography is highly
subjective experiment in order to discover what
you like and dislike.
Exposure for still lifes
Water droplets
Simple ideas often create the
most eye-catching results.
This image was created by
positioning a print of the
H2O symbol for water behind
droplets on a windowpane.
The refracted image of the
symbol can be seen in each
and every tiny drop.
Keyhole
Not all still life images have
to be set up. Found still lifes
refer to photographs taken of
subjects that the photographer
has chanced upon, rather than
pre-arranged. In this instance,
I saw the peeling paintwork on
an old blue door and recognized
the still life potential. I used the
keyhole as a point of interest.
The cloudy, overcast conditions
provided nice, diffused lighting.
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Abstracts and patterns
Abstract is like no other form of picture
taking. The normal rules of exposure and
composition can often be disregarded
altogether. For example, the compositional
rule of thirds can be ignored, focusing
doesnt always need to be pin-sharp
and images can be technically over-
or underexposed. Photographers who
shoot abstracts and patterns simply use
imagination, creativity and originality to
capture stunning, eye-catching images.
Choosing a subject
Abstract photography is the process of using colour,
tone, symmetry, patterns, form, texture and repeating
lines or shapes to create an image. The subject matter
doesnt need to be recognizable or the pictures have
any great meaning: it is purely art. As a result, this is
a highly subjective form of photography; there are no
denitive rights' or 'wrongs.
Almost anything can be shot in an abstract way: big or
small, indoors or out. Unusual angles of architecture
or modern buildings, the human form, oral close-
ups and textures natural or synthetic are typical
of the type of subjects popular among abstract
photographers. If you are still lacking inspiration, type
abstract photography into a search engine online and
look through the results this should give you a few
extra ideas. However, it isnt necessarily the subject
matter itself that is important; it is the photographers
own interpretation of that particular subject.
Reections
Abstract photography places greater emphasis
on texture, detail, form and colour, rather
than capturing the subject in full. With a little
imagination, even very ordinary, everyday subjects
can create bold imagery. In this instance, I isolated
colourful reections on a local canal.
Nikon D200, 80-400mm (at 400mm),

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Exposure for abstracts and patterns
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Traditionally, the two lens types best suited to abstract photography
are a macro lens, to help isolate detail, and a super wide-angle or sheye lens,
which can be used to creatively distort a subjects appearance.
Although creativity is the key ingredient to abstract
photography, you still need to be technically
competent: shooting abstracts is not an excuse
to be lazy. Without a good, working knowledge of
exposure, you will be unable to reproduce your
thoughts and visions. The f-number you select will
be largely dictated by the level of depth of eld
Water droplets
We are constantly surrounded by potential abstract
subjects. With this type of photography, the
possibilities are endless your only restriction is
your imagination. A close-up of water droplets that
had formed on a discarded metal pedal bin, created
this interesting and eye-catching pattern.
required. Often, to create arty, abstract-looking
images, a shallow depth of eld is best, throwing
practically everything other than the point of focus
into a soft haze of colour. Visually, this can prove a
highly effective approach. Also, through selecting
a large aperture, the resulting shutter speed will often
be fast enough to allow you to shoot handheld should
you wish. While normally I encourage using a camera
support whenever practical, when shooting abstracts
the freedom of shooting handheld can help promote
creativity and original shooting angles. Another
popular technique is to blur subject movement
through the use of a slow shutter speed (see page 54).
Digital capture has encouraged creativity and
experimentation. By reviewing the results achieved
via image playback, you can see what works and
what doesnt. You can then alter your set-up or
exposure settings accordingly until you achieve
exactly the effect you desire.
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While many man-made objects are well suited to
being photographed in an abstract way, there is no
better provider of suitable subjects than nature.
New patterns are formed naturally every day, so
where better to begin looking for potential abstract
subjects than the great outdoors.
Usually, a camera records a subject with a high
degree of realism, but, by denition, an abstract
image is not a recognizable, accurate representation
of the subject. The photographer simply identies a
point or area of interest, isolating it through the focal
length of the lens or by moving near to the subject.
Form is primary; content is irrelevant. Therefore,
you need to rethink how you would usually
photograph any given subject. You need to look
with fresh eyes at natural subjects that you might
normally ignore, such as moss, bark, geology and
sand. By photographing such subjects in an abstract
way, employing an unusual angle or using a creative
technique, you will achieve stunning results.
It is not just miniature natural objects that form
interesting abstracts. Rather than photograph
subjects using a traditional approach, try shooting
them more imaginatively. Once again, motion
can be a useful visual tool. Usually, any camera
movement during exposure would result in a
ruined image. However, this is abstract photography,
so no approach should be ruled out completely.
In fact, intentionally moving the camera during
a relatively slow exposure of around 1/2sec can
create very impressionistic results, particularly
when combined with strong lines, such as trees.
While this technique can prove hit and miss, maybe
taking several attempts to get right, panning the
camera during exposure (either from side to side
or up and down) can create visually arresting
photos. Another fun technique to try is zoom
bursts. Adjust the focal length of your zoom from
one extreme to the other during an exposure of
around 1sec to create bizarre results.
Abstracts and patterns in nature
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Thorn
You will need a sharp creative eye to shoot
abstract-looking texture and detail. Simplicity is
often key the sharp form of this single, backlit
thorn created a striking close-up.
Sand pattern
Natural abstracts are often easily missed, so you
need to look carefully. In this instance, the low,
evening light emphasized the ripples in the sand,
creating a simple, but attractive pattern.
Blurred trees
When shooting abstracts, the traditional rules
can be largely ignored. In this instance, I panned
my camera vertically during the exposure.
By doing so, I created this blurry, streaky effect
of a group of trees.
1.3sec at f/16, handheld.
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There are no denitive guidelines for creating abstracts natural or otherwise. What one person
likes, another wont. For this reason, you must capture images that satisfy your creativity rst
and foremost dont worry if they dont always meet with the approval of others.
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Close-up photography
Practically any object is suited to being
shot in close-up. By moving nearer to your
subject, you will reveal intricate detail,
colour and texture that would otherwise
go unnoticed. Close-up photography
allows us to view subjects from a totally
new viewpoint and capture visually
striking photographs indoors or out.
Equipment for close-ups
It is a common misconception that to capture great
close-up images you need pricey, specialist kit, such
as a dedicated macro lens that is optimized for close
focusing. In truth, many standard zooms offer a useful
reproduction ratio of around 1:4 at their longest end,
which is sufcient magnication to photograph many
small subjects.
There are also lots of close-up attachments
available, many of which are inexpensive. For example,
supplementary close-up lenses provide a good
introduction. These are circular lters that screw
into the lenss lter thread and act like a magnier.
They are available in different strengths and lter
diameters a +3 or +4 dioptre is a good starting
point. They dont affect normal camera functions such
Spiders web
Almost anything can create
a bold image in close-up, even
everyday objects that you would
normally overlook. Using a close-
up attachment, it is possible
to isolate interesting colour
or detail, drawing attention to
a specic area. I photographed
this dew-laden spiders web
using a large aperture to create
a shallow depth of eld.
1/30sec at f/2.8, tripod.
as metering or auto focusing. However, they do tend
to suffer from chromatic and spherical aberration
and the camera-to-subject working distance tends
to be short. Despite this, they are a cheap and useful
introduction to the fascinating world of close-ups.
Also available are auto extension tubes, which
are hollow rings that t between the camera and lens.
They work by extending the distance between the
sensor and lens. This allows the lens to focus closer
than normal, increasing magnication. However, they
do reduce the amount of light entering the lens, and
this naturally affects exposure, as a longer shutter
time is required to achieve a correct result. While
your cameras TTL metering will automatically adjust
for any reduction in light caused by using a close-up
attachment, it is useful to be able to calculate the
level of light absorption. Simply set your lens to
innity and then take a meter reading from an even-
toned object, such as a wall. Next, take a subsequent
meter reading of the same object, but with the
extension tube attached. Compare the two meter
readings the difference is the absorption factor.
For example, if the rst reading is 1/500sec at f/8
and the second, with the attachment, is 1/250sec at
f/8, then the loss of light incurred by using it is one
stop. Knowing the level of compensation required is
essential if you are using a handheld light-meter or
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Lighting for close-ups
Light grows progressively more limited at higher
magnications. Also, by working in such close
proximity to the subject, it can be difcult (if
not impossible) to avoid casting the subject into
shade. Sometimes the problem can be alleviated by
altering shooting position or by using a longer focal
length to increase the subject-to-camera distance.
However, when this isnt practical, you may need to
supplement the available light. For the most natural-
looking results, reect light back onto the subject
using a reector (see page 120). The light can be
intensied or reduced simply by moving the reector
closer or further away from the subject.
Compact, collapsible versions are relatively cheap
and a good accessory to keep in your camera bag.
Alternatively, a piece of white card or aluminium foil
can be used. If using a reector isnt practical, try
using ash instead (see page 124). However, ash
from a hotshoe-mounted ashgun can miss (or only
partly illuminate) the subject the light either passing
over it or being obstructed by the lens. Therefore,
position your ashgun off-camera, using an off-
camera ash cord or consider investing in a dedicated
macro ash (see page 132).
What is reproduction ratio?
Reproduction ratio is a way of describing the actual size of
the subject in relation to the size it appears on the sensor,
not the size to which the image is subsequently enlarged on
a screen or when printed. For example, if an object 40mm
wide appears 10mm on the sensor, it has a reproduction
ratio of 1:4 or quarter life-size. If the same object appears
20mm in size, it has a ratio of 1:2 or half life-size. If it
appears the same size on the sensor as it is in reality, it has
a reproduction ratio of 1:1 or life-size. This can also be
expressed as a magnication factor, with 1x being equivalent
to 1:1, or life-size.
Common frog
Nature is a popular subject, but natural light
is often restricted due to the high levels of
magnication required to get frame-lling shots
of miniature subjects. Light bounced onto the
subject via a reector will be less intrusive than
a burst of articial ash. Here, I used a small
reector to evenly illuminate this frog.
Nikon D300, 150mm, ISO 200, 1/320sec at f/4,
reflector, handheld.
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Depth of eld for close-ups
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If you are unsure what depth of eld to employ, take a sequence of images, altering
the aperture value each time. By doing so, you are effectively bracketing depth of eld.
You can then compare the results later and decide which is best.
Thick-legged beetle
This colourful beetle was only
3
4in (20mm) in
length. I had to employ a reproduction ratio of
approximately 1:2 to ensure it was large enough
in the frame. However, at such a high magnication,
depth of eld is severely restricted. To compensate,
I selected a relatively small aperture of f/14 to
provide sufcient depth of eld.
On page 46 we looked at depth of eld and the way
its affects our images. One of the greatest challenges
of close-up photography is working with a more
limited depth of eld than normal. The zone of
sharpness, in front and behind the point of focus,
for any given f-stop, grows progressively shallower
as the level of magnication is increased; for example,
when photographing a ower, its stamens may be
recorded pin-sharp, but the petals in front and behind
might be rendered out of focus. Moving further
away from the subject will create a larger depth
of eld, but this would defeat the object. Instead,
the logical solution is to select a smaller aperture
(higher f-number), as this widens depth of eld. As a
result, the light reaching the sensor is reduced so, to
compensate, the shutter speed has to be lengthened
to maintain the correct exposure.
However, when taking pictures at high
magnications, even the smallest movement is
exaggerated, so the risk of camera shake (see page
52) is greatly enhanced particularly when also
using a relatively slow shutter speed. Presuming the
subject is static, the best solution is to use a tripod to
support the camera. However, if the subject is moving
or being wind-blown, the shutter speed may not be
fast enough to freeze its motion. In instances like
this, select a faster ISO rating to generate a quicker
shutter, or consider using macro ash (see page 132).
A good understanding of depth of eld is
important for creative close-up photography. The
degree of back-to-front sharpness can greatly alter
the subjects appearance in the nal image. Contrary
to popular belief, a large depth of eld is not always
desirable when shooting close-ups, as it can render
too many distracting foreground and background
elements in focus. For this reason, manipulate the
shallow depth of eld to help you isolate your
subject from its surroundings and direct the viewers
eye to your point of focus. Employ a large aperture
of between f/2.8 and f/8 to do this. Depending on
the level of magnication you are employing, depth
of eld may only be a matter of millimetres, so
accurate focusing is essential. When you need to
place your point of focus with pin-point accuracy, it
is best to focus manually using Live View (see page
66). Presuming you are using a tripod, Live View
allows you to zoom into the area you wish to focus
on and carefully ne-tune focusing.
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Isolate your subject
Sometimes you will want to achieve front-to-
back sharpness to ensure everything within the
frame remains in focus. However, intentionally
using a shallow depth of eld helps draw
attention to your chosen point of focus, isolating
the subject from its background. In this instance,
a single wood anemone ower is rendered sharp,
while the surrounding out-of-focus owers
create a attering backdrop.
Nikon D300, 150mm, ISO 200, 1/1250sec
at f/4, handheld.
Close-up or macro what is the difference?
The terms close-up and macro are often used interchangeably.
However, there is actually a distinct difference between the
two. Technically speaking, a close-up is an image captured
using a reproduction ratio ranging from 1:10 to just below life-
size: while macro is life-size to 10:1 life-size. Anything taken
with a greater magnication than 10x life-size belongs to the
specialist eld of micro photography.
Photographers, books and magazines often use the word
macro loosely, using it to describe practically any close-up
image. While this might be technically incorrect, in truth the
distinction is fairly academic.
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In order to maximize the available depth of eld at any given f/stop, try to keep
your camera parallel to the subject, rather than at an angle. This is because
there is only one geometrical plane of complete sharpness, so you want to place
as much of your subject within this plane as possible.
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Ambient light

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Ambient light
A term regularly used by photographers,
ambient light can also be known as
available or existing light. It refers to the
illumination surrounding a scene or subject
by which to take photographs. Typically,
ambient light isnt supplemented or added
to in any way by the photographer. For
example, sunlight, tungsten lighting or
even candlelight can be the source of the
ambient light used in your photographs.
Natural ambient light is the best form of illumination
Im a great advocate of using natural light whenever
practical. Although, unlike ash (see page 124) a
photographer has no control over ambient light,
once you learn how to use it to good effect, your
images will always look natural, with colours faithful
to the original scene or subject.
Light is an images most vital ingredient. The
quantity, quality and direction of light will have
a huge bearing on the look of the nal image.
Evening light
This is a simple image, essentially
comprising of two rocks and a
windswept tree. The shot relies
on the soft, warm, evening light
for its aesthetic appeal. At a
different time of day, when
the quality of light wasnt as
good, this image wouldnt have
succeeded.
Nikon D200, 1020mm
(at 11mm), ISO 100, 1/2sec
at f/16, polarizer, tripod.

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105
Ambient light
105
Lights effect on tonality
A subjects tonality can be greatly affected by the intensity
and direction of light, altering its apparent colour and general
appearance. For example, a very dark object can appear to
be white or even silver depending on just how the light falls
on it. Also, translucent subjects, such as a leaf or the wings
of a buttery, can be rendered much lighter when backlit
(see page 107).
Tonality is rarely xed, so nuances like this will
greatly inuence the way the subject is recorded, and later
perceived, by the viewer. Recognizing just how light can alter
the tonality of your subject will help you to reproduce it just
as you wish in a photograph.
By simply altering your shooting position, a
subject can look radically different. For example,
a subject that is backlit or cast into silhouette
can look far more dramatic than if simply lit from
the front or side.
The colour of light will also inuence your
results. Digital cameras are designed with a
white balance setting to enable photographers
to neutralize colour casts created by different
types of ambient lighting. However, it is worth
remembering that sometimes a cast should be
enhanced, rather than removed, as it can improve
an image aesthetically.
Backlit leaves
The level and direction of
illumination can alter a subjects
tonality, affecting its brightness
and colour. These leaves would
normally be mid-tone but in this
image, due to being backlit, they
appear lighter and more vibrant.
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The lights direction is of huge signicance,
helping to determine a subjects appearance
when captured in the two-dimensional
form of a photograph. There are four broad
categories: front lighting, backlighting, side
lighting and overhead lighting. Matched
to the right scene or subject, each type is
capable of producing striking and very
different results.
Front lighting
The easiest to handle, front lighting illuminates
the front of the subject evenly, removing visible
shadows. Therefore, while it is ne for showing
subjects with no particular emphasis, this form of
light often produces at, formless results, lacking
contrast, impact and atmosphere. This is why it is
often best to ignore the old advice of always take
pictures with the sun behind you it's suited to
a different age of photography. That said, when the
sun is low over the horizon, it can provide excellent
colour saturation. With low front lighting, an
additional problem is that you have to avoid your
own shadow appearing in the picture when using
short focal lengths.
Overhead lighting
Overhead light, created by the suns high position
during the middle of the day, for example, typically
produces harsh, unattering light. It can make
subjects appear at and, unless the subject is
horizontal, it isnt good at emphasizing texture or
form. Depending on the situation, overhead light
Beach huts
Side lighting is best for highlighting texture and
form. It is particularly well suited for dening the
shape of multi-dimensional objects, like buildings.
Pentax K10D, 1855mm (at 18mm), ISO 100,
Direction of light

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107
Ambient light
Marbled white buttery
Translucent subjects, such as insects wings,
are well suited to being lit from behind.
Backlighting highlights a subjects shape,
form and miniature detail.
Nikon D300, 150mm, ISO 100, 1/30sec at f/7.1, tripod.
can also create areas of high contrast with unpleasant,
unattering shadows, although they can easily be
relieved by using ll-in ash (see page 134) or a
reector (see page 120).
Side lighting
One of the best and most regularly used forms of
light, side lighting helps to add depth to a subject
and create a three-dimensional feel. It is for this
reason that many outdoor photographers prefer
shooting at the beginning and end of the day. Side
lighting highlights form, dening shape and edges,
although to what degree depends on the subject
itself and the angle and intensity of the light source.
Side lighting will normally produce images with
a good degree of contrast, while strong, low side-
lighting has a modelling quality. However, this can
present a problem if the contrast in light is greater
than the sensors dynamic range (see page 28).
Backlighting
While you should never point your lens in the
direction of a bright light source, backlighting,
where the subject is illuminated from behind,
is one of the most dramatic forms of lighting.
However, it can also prove the trickiest to meter
for. Metering systems tend to underexpose backlit
subjects, so check histograms regularly and apply
positive compensation (see page 58) if necessary.
Backlighting can create attractive rim lighting,
where there is still detail rendered on the face side
of the subject and a golden halo of light surrounds it.
Silhouetting is the most extreme form of backlight,
with the subject recorded without colour or detail
(see page 108). Translucent subjects, such as leaves
and buttery wings, can look particularly beautiful
backlit, highlighting detail and colour. However,
when shooting towards the light, the risk of lens are
is enhanced so attach a lens hood, and be prepared
to alter your shooting position slightly if necessary.
Lens are
Flare is the product of non-image-forming light reaching
the sensor; normally caused by shooting in the direction
of intense light, such as the sun. Flare can appear in many
different forms, but typically it will be brightly fringed
polygonal shapes of varying size, in addition to bright streaks
and a reduction in contrast. It is created when light doesnt
pass directly along its intended path and instead bounces
back and forth between the internal lens elements before
nally striking the cameras sensor. Although are can be
used creatively, it is normally undesirable, degrading picture
quality. For this reason, modern lenses are designed with
surface coatings to combat its effects and a detachable lens
hood is normally supplied as standard.
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If your images suffer from lens are, it
is usually possible to remove it (to some
degree, at least) using the Clone Tool or
Healing Brush in photo editing software.
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It could be argued that a silhouette is
the result of poor exposure. It is the
most extreme form of backlighting,
where the subject is recorded as a black
outline, without colour or detail, against
a lighter background. Effectively, the
subject is grossly underexposed. However,
silhouetted subjects create powerful
imagery, especially when contrasted
against a clean backdrop or colourful sky.
Silhouettes prove, once again, that there
is no such thing as a correct exposure
it all depends on the effect you desire.
Choosing a subject
Silhouettes are easiest to achieve at either end of
the day, when the sun is lower in the sky. What the
photographer is striving for is a photograph where
the main subject is devoid of detail or colour. For
this reason, it is important to select a subject with
a strong, instantly recognizable outline. People,
buildings, a cityscape, animals or lone trees are good
examples of suitable subjects. In my opinion, the
key to shooting successful silhouettes is to keep the
composition simple; too many competing elements
within the frame will lessen the pictures impact.
Exposing silhouettes
To create a silhouette, the subject needs to be
backlit and contrasted against a brighter background.
To achieve an exposure that will cast your subject
into silhouette, it is usually best to switch to spot
metering mode (see page 22) and then take a meter
reading from an area of brightness behind your
subject. Ideally, the difference in stops between
the metered area, and the subject you intend
silhouetting, needs to be greater than the dynamic
range of your cameras sensor in order to produce
Silhouettes
a true silhouette. Presuming that it is, when you
take the photograph using the settings from your
spot meter reading, your subject will be rendered
pure black, producing a perfect silhouette. Check
the images histogram (see page 30) to be certain
the majority of the pixels should be skewed
towards the left-hand edge.
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When spot meter reading from a brightly lit portion of the frame, be careful not to look
directly at the sun through the camera, as this can be damaging to eyesight.
Damsely
Strong, recognizable subjects can look striking
silhouetted. Silhouetting a subject will place
emphasis on shape and form. Keep compositions
clean and simple.

DEH_Ch3.indd 108 27/11/2012 16:22
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109
Ambient light
Jigsaw puzzle
Silhouettes can also be created indoors by
positioning a ash, lamp or lightbox behind your
subject and using it as your principal light source.
To take this image, I arranged a section of jigsaw
on a lightbox and metered for the highlights. As a
result, the puzzle itself was grossly underexposed,
creating the effect I desired. I removed a piece to
create visual interest.
Windmill
Silhouetted subjects stand out particularly well
against colourful skies. In this instance, I metered
correctly for a bright area of the sky, which cast
the windmill into inky silhouette. Avoid using
graduated ND lters when shooting this type of
scene, as you want your foreground to be devoid
of colour or detail.
1min at f/8, tripod.
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Photographers often refer to the quality
of light, meaning its intensity and colour
temperature. This is determined by its
source. For example, light from a spotlight,
ash or other type of point light will
typically produce quite a hard quality
of light. In contrast, light that is diffused
in some way is deemed quite soft and
attractive. The key factors that affect the
quality of sunlight are time of day, the
season and weather the light is much
less intense and more diffused on a cloudy
day, for example. The lights quality can
greatly affect the look of your nal image.
Talk to any professional outdoor photographer and
they will tell you that it is not hills, lakes, trees, rocks,
plants and so forth, that they are photographing,
but the light reecting off them. Light helps to
dene a subject, and its quality and direction (see
page 106) can greatly alter an image. It can prove
Quality of light
the difference between a good and a great shot.
For example, shoot an identical composition, but
at different times, in varying types of light, and the
results will be radically different.
When photographers talk about the quality
of light, they are actually referring to its intensity.
High-intensity lighting, such as direct sunlight or
spotlighting, is deemed hard, creating well-dened
shadows and a high degree of contrast. However, if
the sunlight is diffused by cloud, or a soft box is used
in the studio, its intensity is lessened. As a result,
shadows are softer and contrast is reduced.
Different types of light suit different subjects; for
example, when shooting portraits, soft lighting will
normally give the most attering results. When using
articial light, a photographer can manipulate and
control the lights intensity to create the effect they
want. However, natural light cannot be controlled, so
photographers working outdoors have to either make
do, or wait until the quality of light changes naturally.
Both cloud cover and the time of day can greatly
inuence the sunlights intensity. Blanket cloud
eclipsing the sun acts like a giant natural diffuser,
1

DEH_Ch3.indd 110 27/11/2012 16:23
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Ambient light
producing even light without shadows well suited
to shooting ora, as colour and detail can be recorded
more accurately. In contrast, on a clear, cloudless day,
the sun will act like a giant spotlight, casting harsh
shadows. The best light is usually produced when
there is broken cloud. This both diffuses and reects
the light, so contrast becomes more manageable.
The position of the light source also has a huge impact
on the quality of light. For example, when the sun is
high overhead at midday, the resulting absence of
shadow leaves the landscape looking at and over-lit.
A similar effect can be observed in a studio. For this
reason, the middle hours of the day are generally best
avoided for landscape photography, in particular. The
so-called golden hours of light, an hour either side of
sunrise or sunset, yields the best quality of light. The
suns rays are not only softened and diffused by its
oblique path through the layers of the atmosphere,
but they are also often wonderfully warm.
The quality of light can also affect exposure.
Hard lighting conditions heighten the level of contrast
within a scene, potentially beyond the limits of the
sensors dynamic range (see page 28), making it more
difcult to retain detail throughout the image.
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The quality of natural light is generally best when the sun is lower in the sky. Not only is the light
softer and warmer, but the longer shadows help create the feeling of depth. Therefore, a good
rule to remember is if your shadow is longer than you are, the light is suitable for taking photos.
Granite tor
In this instance, the scene is transformed by the
quality of light. Although only taken moments
apart, the quality of light is radically different in
the two images. In the rst shot (1), the sun was
hidden by cloud, so the photo is shadowless and
looks rather at. However, when the sun appeared
seconds later, the direct, late evening sunlight
transforms the scene, with the light and resulting
dark shadows giving the image life and depth (2).
1/10sec at f/16, tripod (2 only).
2
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White balance (WB) is an important
camera function. Its role is to neutralize
colour casts produced by the varying
temperatures of light. Most cameras
have a useful automatic white balance
(AWB) option, where the camera looks
at the overall colour of the image and
sets WB accordingly, which is reliable and
accurate in most shooting situations.
However, it will not always produce the
best results. For example, if a scene or
subject is dominated by one particular
colour, AWB is likely to be fooled. Also,
the most aesthetically pleasing result will
not always be the one that is technically
correct; deliberately mismatching the WB
setting can create a better visual result.
Colour temperature
Every light source contains a varying level of the
three primary colours of red, green and blue (RGB).
Lower temperatures have a greater percentage of red
wavelengths, so appear warmer; higher temperatures
have a greater proportion of blue wavelengths and
appear cooler. The temperature of light is measured in
degrees of Kelvin (K). For example, the concentrated
warm light of a candle ame has a low value of
around 1,800K, whilst shade under a cool blue sky
is equivalent to around 7,500K. Light is considered
neutral at around 5,500K this rating being roughly
equivalent to equal amounts of the RGB wavelengths
of white light.
The colour temperature of light has a
signicant effect on photography, inuencing
the appearance and feel of the resulting picture.
While the human eye naturally compensates for
the lights temperature natural or articial so
that we always perceive it as white or neutral, a
cameras sensor isnt so discerning and requires
a helping hand. To capture colour authentically,
digital photographers need to match the colour
temperature of the light falling on the subject with
the appropriate WB setting on their camera. Most
photographers rely heavily on WB presets to do
this. The presets are designed to closely match a
variety of common lighting conditions; for example,
Colour of light white balance
incandescent, uorescent, daylight, cloudy
and shade. By setting WB to a specic colour
temperature, we are actually informing the camera
that the light is that colour, so that it can then
bias the setting in the opposite direction. Although
the cameras WB presets are unable to guarantee
exact colour reproduction, when matched correctly
with the prevailing light, they help photographers
get acceptably close to it. Many DSLRs also allow
photographers to set WB manually, so that it is
possible to dial in a specic Kelvin temperature
for even greater accuracy. White balance aids,
such as the Expodisc and ColorChecker Passport,
are available for ultimate colour accuracy.
Accessories like this are most suited to studio
and wedding photography.
1,8002,000K Candle ame
2,500K Torch bulb
2,800K Domestic tungsten bulb
3,000K Sunrise/sunset
3,400K Tungsten light
3,500K Early morning/late afternoon
5,2005,500K Midday/direct sunlight
5,500K Electronic ash
6,0006,500K Cloudy sky
7,0008,000K Shade

This chart is a useful guide to help you understand
the way that colour temperature alters depending
on the type of light source.
DEH_Ch3.indd 112 12/12/2012 16:02
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Ambient light
White balance comparison
This sequence of images of an identical scene
helps to illustrate the dramatic effect of different
WB settings. Presets designed to correct a low
colour temperature, such as tungsten and
uorescent, will cool down an image; settings
Tungsten Auto
Fluorescent Daylight
Cloudy Shade
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If you shoot in Raw format (see page 68) it is possible to adjust, or ne-tune, an images colour
temperature in photo editing software post capture. This exibility allows the luxury of being
able to correct unwanted colour casts or add them creatively during processing.
designed to balance a high colour temperature,
such as cloudy and shade, will create a warm
colour cast. In this instance, the cloudy setting
records the colour temperature of light most
authentically, but the corrective and creative
possibilities of WB are clear to see.
DEH_Ch3.indd 113 12/12/2012 16:02
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If the lights colour temperature isnt correctly
balanced, the light will adopt an unnatural colour
cast. An articial hue will often prove destructive,
ruining a photographs natural avour. It is
particularly important to achieve the correct WB
in-camera when capturing Jpegs, as colour casts
can prove more difcult to correct.
To prevent colour casts forming, match the WB
setting with the lighting conditions. It is better to
do this than rely on your cameras automatic white
balance (AWB) setting. While AWB is capable of
excellent results, it can prove inconsistent, struggling
to differentiate between the colour of light and the
intrinsic colours of the subject itself. Also, it can
attempt to compensate for atmospheric lighting
conditions that are part of what youre attempting
to record. AWB can only guess at the colour
temperature required so it can be fooled by tricky
or mixed lighting. For example, if the colour of the
subject matter is predominantly warm or cool, AWB
can mistake this for a colour cast created by the light
source itself and alter the subjects natural tone.
One method for guaranteeing accurate white
balance is to bracket your WB settings. Bracketing
is a term used when taking multiple photographs of
the same scene or subject using different settings
most commonly your exposure settings (see page
58). However, the same principle can also be applied
to white balance. Some cameras have a function
for doing this automatically. If not, simply alter the
WB setting manually for each subsequent frame.
However, Raw shooters need not worry about
bracketing WB settings, being able to easily adjust
WB to taste at the post processing stage.
Correcting colour temperature
It is important to match your cameras WB setting
to the conditions. When I photographed this
seascape in dull, overcast conditions, at rst I
mistakenly left my WB setting on Daylight. As a
result, the scene is recorded unnaturally cool (1).
To correct this, I quickly switched to the cameras
cloudy WB preset in order to match the conditions
more accurately. The subsequent shot is far more
faithful to the original scene (2).
1
2
Correction
DEH_Ch3.indd 114 12/12/2012 16:03
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Ambient light
Colour that is rendered technically correct will not
always create the best results. Depending on the
scene or subject, photographs can benet from
being warmed up or cooled down. This is easily
and quickly achieved by intentionally mismatching
the WB setting with the lights colour temperature.
Warming up images is a particularly popular
technique, attering skin tone in portrait images
and enhancing sunrises and sunsets, for example.
To do this, select a higher Kelvin value than the
ambient light requires. For example, midday daylight
is roughly equivalent to 5,500K. Therefore, by
selecting a temperature of 6,000K (or your cloudy
WB preset), the resulting image will appear warmer.
In contrast, a blue hue conveys a feeling of coolness
and mystery and is well suited to misty, wet or
wintry conditions. To create the effect, manually dial
in a lower colour temperature setting. For example,
in average daylight, a WB setting of 3,2004,200K
would create a cool blue colour cast. If you prefer,
you could try using your cameras uorescent or
tungsten presets to create a similar effect.
Whether you intend on warming up or cooling down
your images, adjustments to WB should normally
be fairly subtle if you wish to retain a natural feel
to your shots. Having said that, dont overlook larger
shifts in colour temperature; in some instances,
they can prove effective. Experience will help you to
intuitively know when to manipulate WB creatively,
but experimentation is the key.
Warming up
These two images were taken within moments of
each other. While the rst shot records colour more
faithfully (1), the subsequent frame taken using
a higher Kelvin value looks warmer and is more
attractive (2). Intentionally warming up or cooling
down images for creative effect is a powerful and
useful aesthetic tool.
1/4sec at f/16, 2-stop ND grad, tripod.
1 2
Creativity
DEH_Ch3.indd 115 27/11/2012 16:24
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Nature provides us with an ever-changing,
variable light source: the sun. With the
exception of photographers who shoot
exclusively in a studio environment,
sunlight provides the ambient light for
the vast majority of images. The quantity,
effect and look of sunlight vary greatly,
depending on the weather, time of day and
also the season. Although photographers
have no control over sunlight, a good
appreciation of its many qualities will
help you use natural ambient light to its
best effect.
Natural ambient light
While, in terms of distance, sunlight is xed, its
size can effectively vary. For example, on a clear
day, direct sunlight can be considered to be a small
point light source relative to its distance from
objects on the Earths surface producing quite
harsh lighting. In contrast, when the conditions are
cloudy, the suns rays are spread and scattered by
the cloud, effectively creating a much broader light
source and more diffused light. Therefore, the suns
intensity can vary greatly; not just day-to-day, but
potentially, from one minute to the next. Due to the
changeability of natural ambient light, two identical
compositions, taken just moments apart, can look
radically different. This is particularly so on days
when there is broken cloud. The sun may appear for
Lake
Natural ambient light is in a
constant state of transience.
The light can appear radically
different depending on the
time of day, season and also
the weather conditions. For
example, these two images
were taken of the same view
at around 7am in the morning,
but months apart. The results
look radically different, as a
result of the season and the way
the suns position has changed,
altering the sunlights effect on
the landscape.

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Ambient light
just a few moments before being shrouded in cloud
again. In conditions like this, the exact moment you
release the shutter can make a vast difference to
the nal image and also to the length of exposure.
Timing is often key when working with natural light.
I have previously mentioned how the quality
of natural ambient light changes, relative to the
time of day. Typically, outdoor photographers favour
the time around sunrise and sunset in which to
take their images. The light is naturally softer and
warmer. The longer shadows cast help create the
perception of depth and accentuate form. If you are
working indoors, but using the natural light ltering
through a window or door, the time of day remains
important, with the so-called quality of light being
far more photogenic at either end of the day.
Windswept tree
Natural ambient light can be used
in many different ways. I took this
photograph by shooting in the
sunlights direction, intentionally
casting this windswept tree into
silhouette to create a simple,
graphic image.
Nikon D300, 1870mm (at 40mm),
Sunlight is in a permanent state of transience and
the time of year also has a dramatic effect. Week by
week, the light is subtly changing. The days are either
growing shorter or longer and the arc of the sun
varies. For example, during winter, the arc of the sun
is at its shortest, so it doesnt appear to be as high
in the sky as it does during the summer months. As
a result, the quality of light remains relatively good
throughout the day, even at midday traditionally
the worst time to take pictures.
Thanks to the transience of natural light, a
scene or subject rarely looks the same twice. While,
on one hand, this can make a photographers life
more difcult, on the other, the changing qualities
of natural ambient light make photography far more
exciting and unpredictable.
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The term ambient light photography
refers to any light type not added to in
any way by the photographer. This means,
therefore, not just natural sunlight but
articial light sources, too. For example,
light from a table, oor or ceiling light,
neon signs, streetlights, car headlights,
a re or candle can all potentially provide
the illumination for your pictures.
Basically, any form of existing light not provided by
the sun or moon is considered to be articial ambient
light. It can have a very different quality and colour to
natural lighting, so photographers need to be aware of
Articial ambient light
this if they wish to record their subjects authentically.
Typically, the majority of images taken using an
articial ambient light source are taken indoors
using either incandescent or uorescent light.
A light bulb that employs a metal lament, heated
to a high temperature by the passage of electricity,
is considered incandescent light. Most household
light bulbs employ tungsten as a lament a
metallic element with a high melting point and
it is for this reason that photographers often use
the generic term tungsten light to describe articial
room lighting. Tungsten light is quite inefcient,
with much of its energy leaving the bulb in the
form of heat, not light. However, it is often perfectly
adequate for taking pictures indoors; for example,
for shooting portraits or still life images. When using
Evie
Our eyes naturally neutralize the warm, lower
colour temperature of tungsten lighting. However,
unless you adjust your cameras WB accordingly, a
warm, muddy cast will affect images taken under
incandescent light. In this high-key image (1), the
articially warm effect of tungsten light is obvious

compared to the subsequent shot (2) where I
adjusted WB to the cameras 'tungsten' WB preset.
Nikon D300, 105mm, ISO 400, 1/320sec
at f/2.8, handheld.
1
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Ambient light
this type of articial ambient light, it is important to
be aware that tungsten laments emit a much lower
colour temperature than daylight. While our eyes
naturally neutralize this effect, a camera will record
a warm, orange colour cast. Although this can prove
attractive, often it will look ugly and unnatural and
should be corrected using your WB setting (see page
112). The colour temperature for tungsten light is
around 3,000K, so manually adjust WB accordingly
or select your cameras incandescent WB preset
designed to neutralize the excessive warmth of
shooting under tungsten light.
Fluorescent, or strip lighting, contains mercury
vapours that produce ultraviolet light when an
electric current is passed through them, causing the
tube to glow or uoresce. Like tungsten, strip lighting
produces a colour cast, unseen by the human eye.
In most instances, uorescent light will create a
slightly greenish tinge to images. To ensure your
shots look natural, select your DSLRs uorescent
WB preset, or a colour temperature value of around
4,200K. Fluorescent light is typically brighter and is
spread more evenly than tungsten. The higher level
of illumination makes it easier to achieve sufcient
exposure, helping to record detail in areas that other
types of existing light may not.
The advantage of using articial ambient light, as
opposed to ash, is that its effect on your subject is
immediately obvious. Unlike ash, subject distance
does not have a bearing on exposure just meter for
the subject as you would normally, and shoot. Also,
you may be able to control the amount of ambient
light by switching lights on or off or diffusing them.
However, indoor lighting can be quite contrasty
for example, when your subject is close to the light
source and well illuminated, but the surroundings are
not. In situations like this, a reector may be a useful
option in order to balance the articial ambient light.
However, you may need to add a supplementary
burst of ash to solve the problem. While this means
you are no longer relying on the existing light, by
bouncing ash (see page 142) off a wall or ceiling,
you can effectively reduce contrast without spoiling
the images natural feel.
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Using the articial light available is useful in
a number of different circumstances, such
as during a wedding ceremony or indoor
sporting event, for instance, when ash isnt
appropriate or allowed.
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Reectors are highly useful lighting
accessories, particularly suited to portrait,
studio and close-up photography. Basically,
a reector is a large reective disc that
works by bouncing light back onto the
subject. It can be angled manually to direct
light onto the area you require, adding
extra illumination to your subject and
relieving harsh shadows. It can prove so
effective that in certain situations it can
negate the need for ash.
Reectors
When light levels are low or limited, a burst of ash
can seem like the obvious answer. However, if not
applied correctly, articial light can destroy the
natural feel of an image particularly close-ups of
plants or insects. Often, a better alternative is to
manipulate the light available by using a reector.
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It is easy to make your own small reector
by securing a sheet of aluminium foil to
a piece of stiff cardboard. It can then be
used to angle light onto your subject.
Reected light
A reector can dramatically
enhance the look of an image.
By carefully bouncing the light
onto the subject, it is possible
to illuminate the area desired.
The results look more natural
than using ash. In this instance
(1), a reector has helped
illuminate this newly emerged
dragony, and relieve the ugly,
dark shadow areas (2).

1
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Ambient light
Reector
Whether shooting outdoors
or in a studio environment, a
reector is a highly useful and
effective tool for manipulating
the ambient light and relieving
areas of shadow. They are
available in different sizes and
colours. A gold version will help
add warmth to the subject.
Reectors are relatively inexpensive and available in
different sizes and colours. The colour is important:
white provides a soft, diffused light; silver is more
efcient, but can look harsh; gold or sunre will
add warmth. Many reectors have a different colour
on either side, providing choice depending on the
subject matter. For photographers on the move,
it is most practical to opt for a collapsible version
that folds away and can be stored neatly. Reectors
are available from 12in (30cm) up to sizes of 47in
(120cm) or more. The larger the size, the greater
the area of reected light; therefore a small reector
is only suited to shooting small objects.
By using a reector, it is possible to alter the
intensity and, therefore, the quality of light. You can
easily adjust the intensity of the reected light by
moving it closer or further away from the subject.
However, avoid placing it too near, or you risk giving
the image an articial feel. It is normal to handhold
a reector in position to achieve just the type of
illumination that the subject requires, although
reector brackets and clamps are available to buy.
For portrait photographers, reectors are an essential
tool. For example, sunlight can cast ugly shadows,
particularly under the chin and neck. A reector,
held at waist height, angled upward, will even up
the lighting, producing a more attering result.
Using a reector naturally adds light to the
subject you are photographing, which in turn affects
exposure. Therefore, remember to meter with the
reected light in place. Fail to do so and you risk
overexposure.
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Flash light

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Flash light
Light is crucial to all photographs, so
what do you do when the ambient light
is insufcient or if the subject is not lit to
its best potential? The quantity of light
isnt always ideal and rarely perfect, so
how do you overcome the limitations and
inconsistency of light? The answer is to
control light levels by adding your own
light source, in the form of ash light.
While it is true that, used incorrectly, ash can prove
destructive casting ugly highlights, washing out
colour and creating an unnatural look applied
correctly and appropriately, it will hugely benet
your photography.
By enhancing or overriding natural light, a
photographer has greater control over the lights
quality, quantity and direction. As a result, it is
possible to achieve better images than if you had
simply accepted and worked within the existing
conditions. Flash will allow you to capture shots
that wouldnt otherwise be possible. However,
the addition of articial (ash) light presents
photographers with a new set of challenges.
By introducing ash, some of the basic parameters
of exposure are altered. For example, shutter time
is largely dictated by the cameras sync speed
(see page 131) and the speed of the emitted ash
effectively works as the shutter speed. As a result, it
is the lens aperture and the ash-to-subject distance
that are the overriding controls of ash exposure.
Flash photography can appear quite daunting
and complex at rst. There are many new terms to
become familiar with; for example, ll-in, high- and
low-speed sync and front- and rear-curtain ash.
Even if you dont own a dedicated ashgun, most
consumer DSLRs are designed with a small built-in,
pop-up unit that is capable of surprisingly good
results. To enable you to use ash correctly and
creatively, a good understanding of the basics is
important. This chapter is designed to help you get
to grips with ash and understand ash exposure.
124 124 124
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TTL ash metering
Achieving correctly exposed results using ash is made
easier today, thanks to the sophistication and accuracy
of TTL ash metering where the camera and ash
communicate to achieve the correct level of illumination.
Before this technology, a ash unit would always discharge
at full power, leaving the photographer to calculate ash
exposure, depending on the aperture and the camera-to-
subject distance.
TTL ash metering works by the unit only emitting
the correct amount of light for the exposure settings
selected and the prevailing shooting conditions. In basic
terms, when you take a picture using TTL ash metering, the
ash emitted strikes the subject then bounces back to the
camera, exposing the image sensor. This light is measured by
a sensor in the camera and, once the sensor determines that
sufcient light has amassed to form a correct exposure, the
ash bursts duration ends. Remarkably, all this occurs within
a fraction of a second: at the speed of light.
Thanks to this technology, it is possible to pop-up
your cameras integral unit, or attach a dedicated ashgun,
and immediately begin shooting acceptably good ash
images. However, as with non-ash TTL metering (see page
18), it is designed to render your subject mid-tone and, as
previously discussed, this will not always record darker and
lighter subjects faithfully. Therefore, while TTL metering
is capable of excellent results, it cannot be relied upon in
every instance. As with non-ash TTL metering, exposure
compensation or ash bracketing may well be necessary
to achieve the results you desire.
Barn owl
Arguably, the most common exposure problem
is a simple lack of light, preventing us from
taking the images we want. When natural light
is insufcient, ash is the answer. Thanks to the
sophistication and accuracy of TTL metering,
achieving correctly exposed pictures using ash
is easier than ever before.
Nikon D300, 150mm, ISO 200, 1/250sec at f/5.6,
SB800 Speedlight, handheld.

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Flash light
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Flash can prove a powerful and essential
tool. However, to make the best use of it, it
is important to be familiar with the terms
associated with using ash. For example, a
units guide number refers to its maximum
operating distance, so to ensure you
always stay within its effective working
distance, it is important to be aware of
this number. Also, the effect of the inverse
square law, and the units recycling time,
will dictate its reach and performance.

Guide numbers
The guide number (GN) of a ash unit is given by the
manufacturer and indicates its power and operating
distance. The number can be used to calculate the
relevant aperture or, more commonly, the distance
that the ash can effectively travel. The number
is usually stated in feet or metres for a sensitivity
rating equivalent to the cameras lowest ISO
usually ISO 100 or 200. The guide number can be
used in two equations:
f-stop = GN/distance
distance = GN/f-stop
For example, if the guide number of a pop-up ash is
18 (ISO m/ISO 200), the effective operating distance
for that unit can be calculated by dividing the number
by the f-stop selected. Therefore, if an aperture of f/4
is set, the effective range of the ash will be:
distance = 18/4 = 4.5m
The power of an external ashgun will exceed that
of a pop-up unit, so it has a larger guide number.
When buying a ash, invest in a unit with the largest
guide number you can afford, as this will provide the
longest operating distance.
Flash basics
External ashgun
This ashgun is typical of todays breed of
sophisticated ashguns. With a high guide number
of 40, it boasts an impressive operating range.
It also has a fast recycling time, and offers high-
speed ash sync of up to 1/4000sec.
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A guide number is exactly that a guide. It is not a power output value. Each manufacturer has
a different interpretation of what constitutes acceptable exposure for the operating range.
Some are more optimistic than others, so do your own tests to check the units effectiveness
over varying distances.
Flash recycle time
This is the length of time it takes for a ash unit to
recharge its capacitors and be ready for use after
being red. Typically, this will only be a matter of
seconds, but recycling time will be lengthened when
the ash is red at full capacity or when batteries
are becoming exhausted. A quick recycling time is
important when you need to shoot a number of
frames in quick succession. The recycling time
of some external ashguns can be shortened by
attaching compatible power packs that hold extra
batteries and are designed to speed up recycling
time by as much as half between bursts.

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127 127 127
The inverse square law
When using ash it is useful to keep in mind the limitations
imposed by the inverse square law. This is a mathematical
law, describing light fall-off owing to distance travelled.
Simply put, it means that at a constant output the
illuminating power of the ash will be the inverse square
of the distance. Therefore, if you double the distance from
a light source, the illumination is quartered, not halved as
you might rst think. For example, if you had two objects,
one of which is 6ft (2m) from a light source and the other
13ft (4m) from it, the object 13ft (4m) away will receive
only a quarter of the light received by the nearer object.
An object 26ft (8m) away would receive only a sixteenth
as much light. This rate of fall-off is due to the way light
spreads as it travels progressively further from its source.
All light sources follow this rule and it is the reason
why foreground objects are much more brightly illuminated
by a camera-mounted ash unit than distant objects.
A modern ash unit is highly sophisticated and will try
to compensate for fall-off, but its power (guide number)
may limit the extent to which it can do so.
Large red damsely
Due to ash fall-off a result
of the inverse square law a
subject that is lit by ash can
have an articially dark, or even
black, background. While this
can betray the use of ash, it
can also isolate your subject
against a simple, non-conicting
black backdrop.
1/200sec at f/16, Metz 15MS-1,
tripod.
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Practically all digital compacts are designed
with a ash, while many SLRs have a built-
in, pop-up ash unit. They are designed to
provide illumination in situations where
there isnt sufcient ambient light to
correctly expose your subject. If the camera
is used in an automatic mode, the unit will
pop up and re if the metering system
deems the ambient light levels too low
to achieve a correctly exposed result. This
is usually when the shutter speed drops
below a safe speed to handhold the camera
without the risk of shake for example
1/30sec. However, your integral unit can
be useful in a wide variety of situations:
to ll-in ugly shadows or to add a catch-
light to your subjects eyes, for instance.
Therefore, it is often only when you
override the automatic settings that you
will enjoy your built-in units full creative
and corrective potential.
It is easy to overlook a cameras small, pop-up ash.
However, it can prove a useful and convenient lighting
accessory. Although not as powerful or exible as an
external ashgun, an integral unit will typically boast
a GN of between 10 and 18 powerful enough for
illuminating most nearby subjects. It can be used
when ambient light is inadequate; or as ll ash when
backlighting is excessive and you wish to relieve ugly,
dark shadows. It is capable of producing excellent
results, particularly when used in conjunction
with ash exposure compensation (see page 136).
However, to make the most of your cameras pop-up
unit, and to ensure you use it appropriately, it is
important to be aware of its limitations.
Compared to an external ashgun, which will
often boast a GN of 30 or more, a built-in ash lacks
power. Therefore, there is little point trying to use
Built-in ash
one to illuminate distant objects as the ash will fall
off before reaching the subject. Depending on the
ISO you employ, they are normally best used with
subjects within a 13ft (4m) range. Also, their position
is xed, so the ash burst cant be directed away
from the subject in order to bounce the light off a
ceiling or wall to soften its effect. Lastly, a built-in
ash can exaggerate the effect of red-eye (see page
143). This is because the ash is near to the optical
axis of the camera and, as a result, the light strikes
the subjects eyes at a similar angle to which the
reected light is entering the camera.
If you are on a budget or rarely use ash, your
cameras built-in unit will prove capable in many
shooting situations. However, due to the limitations
stated, if you intend working with ash regularly,
it is worth investing in a dedicated ashgun. One
of the advantages of an integral ash is that it can
be quickly activated whenever required, without
the need to attach a separate unit or adding extra
weight to your kit bag. Usually, it is possible to pop
up the ash via a small button near the pentaprism
indicated by a lightning ash symbol. Lifting the
ash will activate the unit and it will quickly charge
and re the next time the shutter is released. The unit
is designed to work seamlessly with the cameras
exposure metering, focusing and zoom systems, so
the results are often accurate and pleasing.
Most cameras have a range of ash modes,
typically: front-curtain sync (see page 140), red-eye
reduction (see page 143) and slow sync (see page
139). Exposure compensation can also be applied,
adding to the pop-up units versatility. Integral units
are also very useful for adding a small reection of
light to a subjects eyes. This is commonly known
as a catchlight and adds life and depth to portraits
of people and animals. While catchlights will often
appear naturally, when necessary, they can be
created articially using ash. When using a pop-up
ash to create a catchlight, reduce the ash units
power output by 2 or 3 stops to ensure subtle,
natural-looking results.

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In your cameras fully automatic mode, the integral ash will pop up whenever the exposure meter
deems there is insufcient light. A camera cannot recognize situations where a ash isnt required;
when shooting a sunset, for instance. In situations like this, ash is obviously redundant, so switch
to a different exposure mode or switch the ash off.

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Hedgehog
A cameras integral ash unit (presuming it has
one) can prove useful in a wide variety of shooting
situations. In this instance, I used a reduced burst
of ash from my cameras pop-up unit to simply
add catchlights to the eyes of this hedgehog.
They give the image more life and depth.
pop-up flash, handheld.
Built-in ash
Most consumer DSLR cameras boast a built-in
pop-up ash, which can prove effective and
useful in a wide range of shooting situations.
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An external ashgun offers far more
versatility and power than the cameras
built-in unit, so it is a worthwhile
investment for regular users of ash.
There is a wide choice, varying in design,
strength, sophistication and cost. The
majority are auto-electronic systems,
which operate by exchanging information
with the camera via a proprietary digital
data line. They are designed to operate in
synchronization with the cameras internal
metering producing correctly exposed
ash images with minimum effort.

There are many advantages to using external ash
instead of an integral unit. They are designed with
a higher GN, enabling photographers to illuminate
subjects from further away. Many ashguns boast a
ash head that can swivel from side-to-side and be
raised and lowered to offer more control over the
ashs direction, enabling photographers to bounce
ash (see page 142). Some have a zoom head, which
is designed to expand the ash beam when there is
a wide angle of view, and narrow it at longer focal
lengths in order to extend its useful range while
maintaining coverage. Often they are designed
External ash
with an integral diffuser panel that can be pulled
down in front of the ash head to diffuse the light
emitted particularly useful when shooting nearby
subjects. Their ash recycle time is faster, and using
an external ash limits the effect of red-eye (see
page 143), as the light source is farther away from
the subjects eyes. The majority of ashguns also
feature an LCD panel, where settings are displayed
and can be easily altered, and they boast an AF assist
illuminator, which is activated in low light to project
a patterned beam to aid the cameras auto-focusing
and accurately lock onto the subject.
External ash units connect to the camera via the
hotshoe mount, although they can be used off-camera
in order to simulate a more natural angle of light,
for example via a connecting cable or as a slave
unit triggered remotely. Although you can set ash
output manually, the cameras automatic and TTL
modes tend to be extremely reliable, ending the ash
burst when the correct level of exposure has been
reached. However, no form of metering is infallible.
Flash output is affected by the reectivity and tonal
value of your scene or subject, so, just as with normal
metering, your camera will attempt to record the
subject as an average tone. So, when photographing
very light or dark subjects you may need to dial in
positive or negative ash compensation (see page
136) to achieve a correct exposure.

Camera-mounted ash
There is a wide choice of
external units available to
buy ranging in strength,
versatility, sophistication
and cost. Dedicated units are
best, so try to buy a ashgun
produced by the manufacturer
of your camera.
LCD display
External units offer far greater
versatility and control. Settings
can be quickly altered via the
units control panel, and the
present settings are displayed
in the ashguns LCD.
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Flash light
Flash sync speed
The duration of a ash burst is a matter of milliseconds, so
timing is crucial. The burst must occur when the shutter is
fully open. If the ash is triggered whilst the shutter is in
the process of opening or closing, then the resulting image
will only be partly exposed. This is due to the design of a
shutter mechanism. The shutters typically incorporated in
DSLR cameras are equipped with a pair of moving curtains.
They move vertically across the image area, as opposed
to horizontally, as there is less distance to travel. At fast
shutter speeds the opening is actually a slit between the
two curtains, travelling the height of the image area.
However, this presents a problem when using ash: if
only a narrow slit is exposed at the moment the ash
res it is not possible to illuminate the entire image
area. An electronic ash burst is always much briefer
than the cameras fastest shutter speed. Therefore, full
synchronization where the ash burst exposes the
entire image area of the sensor is only possible within
a limited shutter speed range. You will be overridden
by the camera if you try to select a shutter speed that
exceeds this range. The maximum synchronization
speed is commonly known as the ash sync or X-sync.
Some cameras are faster than others, but typically the
ash sync speed is in the region of 1/200sec.
Make a wish
A dedicated ashgun is not only more powerful
than a cameras pop-up unit, but offers ash
photographers more control, options, and is
generally very versatile. Flashguns can even be
positioned off-camera and employed to light
your subject creatively. They can prove useful for
illuminating your subject in low-light, freezing
subject movement, or even just to add a subtle
kiss of light to ll shadow areas.
1/200sec at f/8, SB800 Speedlight, handheld.
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When the ambient light is insufcient to
illuminate close-up subjects indoors or
out ash is the answer. Flash provides
illumination when light levels are low,
preventing the blurring effects of subject or
camera movement. It also allows a smaller
aperture to be employed, creating a larger
depth of eld than would otherwise have
been possible crucial if you want your
subject to be recorded sharp throughout.
Applied well, it will highlight ne detail and
help create sharper-looking results. It can
be used to ll ugly, dark shadows, highlight
the subjects shape and form, or to produce
more vibrant colours.
However, illuminating small subjects using articial
light can prove challenging, due to the short working
distances involved. For example, a cameras built-in,
pop-up unit is designed to cover subjects in the
region of 515ft (1.54.6m) away. Your subject
Macro ash
Twin ash
For advanced macro photography, a twin ash
system is best. This unique wireless system kit
is designed with two SB-R200 remote units.
All exposure and triggering communication is
carried out using infrared wireless communication.
By using two separate ash heads, it is possible
to direct light precisely onto miniature subjects.
Macro ash
Ring/macro ashes are designed to produce even,
shadowless light to illuminate close-up subjects.
They are ideally suited to macro enthusiasts;
however, being a specialized piece of kit, they can
prove quite costly.

will be much closer than this, so the usefulness
of your cameras integral ash is fairly limited.
Also, the (relatively) high, xed position of a
hotshoe-mounted ashgun means that the ash
burst emitted may miss or only partly illuminate
nearby subjects and, unless it is heavily diffused,
light can prove quite harsh. Instead, the best way
for close-up enthusiasts to articially illuminate
miniature subjects is to attach a dedicated macro
ash. There are two main types of macro ash:
ring/macro ash or twin ash.
Ring/macro ash
Unlike a conventional ashgun, a ring/macro ash
is circular, attaching directly to the front of the
lens via an adapter, while the control unit sits on
the cameras hotshoe. This design enables the ash
to effectively illuminate nearby subjects from all
directions at once, providing even, shadowless
light. While this might sound ideal for close-ups,
in practice the resulting light can look unnaturally
at. To help overcome this, the majority of modern
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Ring/macro ashes can also be used for portrait and fashion photography. Not only do they help
remove shadows, which otherwise can be unattering and emphasize wrinkles, but the unique
way that ring/macro ashes render light can give models a glowing appearance.
example, a tripod leg. The heads can be red
together or individually, providing even greater
exibility and creative possibilities. Theyre relatively
lightweight and compact and are arguably the most
versatile form of ash available. However, they
produce twin catchlights, which can look unnatural.
Due to the fact that macro ashes are intended to
illuminate close-up subjects, they normally have
a small GN and are most effective within a range
of 3ft (1m).
Adaptors
You can also buy ringash adaptors that are designed
to convert an ordinary ashgun into a makeshift
ringash by redirecting the ash burst, using a
system of internal prisms and reectors, to a circular
unit that ts around the lens. Another option today
for close-up photographers is LED lighting units.
Whatever close-up subject you are shooting, dont
be afraid to use articial light if it will benet your
shots. However, your goal should be to create results
that look as natural and authentic as possible; unless
you intentionally want to do otherwise.
ring/macro ash units boast more than one ash
tube, which can then be controlled independently.
This allows photographers to vary the output ratio
between them in order to create shadows and
more natural, three-dimensional-looking results.
For example, employ one ash tube as the main
light source and the other for ll light by reducing
its power output by 2 or 3 stops. If you are using
a unit without this level of control, improvise by
using black tape to mask parts of the ring to vary
the ash output.
Twin ash
These units work using a similar principle to a ring/
macro ash. Instead of a ring, twin ash units consist
of two individual ash heads that are mounted on
an adaptor ring attached to the front of the lens.
The ash output can be varied between the heads
to solve the problem of the at, even light that is
commonly associated with macro ash. However,
they also have the added exibility of being able
to be moved and positioned independently. They
can even be removed from the mounting ring
altogether and be handheld or attached to, for
Common darter
Light is often severely
restricted when shooting
in such close proximity to
the subject particularly
when photographing
natural history. Macro
ash units are specically
designed to illuminate
small subjects. By varying
the output of a twin-ash
unit, natural-looking
results are possible.
Nikon D200, 150mm,
ISO 100, 1/250sec
at f/4, SB R1C1, tripod.
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134
Although it is easy to presume that ash
is only useful in low light conditions, in
reality it is an essential tool in a wide
range of photographic situations. Flash
doesnt have to be the primary light
source for exposure. Fill-in or ll ash
is a technique where a ash burst is
used to supplement the existing light,
typically to brighten (or relieve) deep
areas of shadow outdoors on sunny days.
Arguably, ll-in ash is the most important ash
technique to be familiar with, supplementing
ambient light in order to give images more life, yet
retaining a natural feel. Fill ash works in a similar
way to employing reected light (see page 120),
shining a little extra light into certain regions of the
subject. Fill ash is particularly popular with portrait
photographers working in daylight when the suns
position can cast distracting shadows under the
models nose, lips and eye sockets. However, it is
useful in any situation where shadow is obscuring
subject detail or when the background is signicantly
brighter than the foreground. To give you an
example, if photographing a portrait of someone
wearing a hat outside at a wedding, say the rim
is likely to create a distracting shadow directly
across the subjects eyes. Fill ash will relieve this
area of shade, creating a more even exposure across
the subjects face.
Before modern electronics existed, calculating
ll ash manually could prove complex, requiring the
photographer to balance the ash and existing light
to give a daylight-to-ash ratio of approximately
1:4. Today, it is straightforward, with the camera
and dedicated ashgun communicating with one
another in order to adjust ash output to achieve
Fill-in ash
a natural balance between the main subject and
the background. Essentially, using ll ash doesnt
alter exposure settings its role is to relieve areas
of shadow that would otherwise appear too dark
in the nal image. The aperture and shutter speed
are set to correctly expose the background, while
the ash is red to illuminate the foreground
subject. Therefore, meter as you would normally,
with exposure time being dictated by the amount
of light already present within the scene.
To help you decide whether ll ash is
appropriate or not, ask yourself the following
questions: is my subject (or part of it) in shade, or,
is there more light behind the main subject than
in front of it? If the answer to either of these is
yes, then you need to consider whether you are
near enough to the subject for the ash burst to be
effective. Presuming that you are, attach a dedicated
external ashgun or pop up your cameras built-in
unit. The majority of ashguns have a specic ll-in
mode, designed to emit just enough ash light to
relieve the shadows. However, monitor the results
carefully, as you may want to alter the cameras
automatic settings to ensure the best results. Fill-in
ash often looks most natural when the output
is approximately a stop darker than the ambient
light. If the ash-to-daylight ratio is too even, or
if the ash begins to overpower the existing light,
the overall balance looks false and betrays the use
of ash. By using the cameras ash compensation
function or by dialling in positive or negative
compensation on the ashgun itself it is possible
to increase or decrease the burst emitted to create
just the result you desire. By adjusting the output
of the ash unit in this way, you are effectively
altering the ash-to-daylight ratio. Generally
speaking, photographs taken in bright light require
more ll-ash to relieve the shadow areas than
images taken in shade or on an overcast day.

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Fill-in ash isnt just useful for portraits. Close-up and ower photographers
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even prove useful for images of architectural detail.

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135
Flash light
Fill-in ash
Fill-in ash is useful to relieve harsh shadows,
particularly when shooting portraits on sunny
days, when overhead sunlight can create distracting
shadows underneath facial features. Here, the
rst image was taken without ash, while for the
subsequent frame a burst of ll-in ash was used.
Nikon D300, 2485mm (28mm), ISO 100,
1/250sec at f/7.1, SB800 Speedlight, handheld.
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Although TTL ash metering is reliable
in the majority of shooting situations,
it can still be deceived. As with normal
TTL metering (see page 18), your camera
attempts to record subjects as mid-tone.
Therefore, if you are using automatic
TTL ash, the camera will effectively
underexpose light subjects and overexpose
dark subjects in order to render them
with average tonality. The simplest way
to correct this is to apply ash exposure
compensation.
Flash exposure compensation is similar in principle
to exposure compensation (see page 58). It is a
common feature on DSLRs and should be applied
if the ash level automatically set by your camera
proves incorrect. When ash exposure compensation
is applied, no changes are made to aperture, shutter
speed or ISO only the level of ash emitted is
altered. Positive compensation (+) increases the
burst, making the subject appear brighter, while
negative compensation (-) reduces ash output,
making the subject darker and also reducing
highlights and reections.
Flash exposure compensation
Because of the way cameras attempt to render
subjects as mid-tone typically underexposing
light subjects and overexposing dark ones you
often need to apply positive compensation when
photographing light or white subjects, and a negative
amount when shooting subjects darker in tone.
For example, if you are photographing a white
ower, or a bride in her wedding dress against a
light-coloured backdrop, you would actually need
to increase the ash burst, contrary to what your
initial instincts might tell you. Naturally, the amount
of compensation you need to apply will depend on
the tonality of the scene or subject. Most DSLRs
will allow you to set a ash compensation value
of between -3EV (darker) and +1EV (lighter) in
increments of 1/3EV. Experience will help you
identify just how much compensation is required
in any given situation, but at rst you may need to
experiment or even bracket ash output to achieve
the correct level of exposure.
Flash exposure compensation allows you to
control the balance between ash and ambient light.
Therefore, it is a function that can be used creatively
as well as for corrective purposes. Using ash
compensation you can exert more creative inuence
on your images. The more the ash burst dominates
the ambient light, the more articial the effect is.
- 2EV - 1EV

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Flash light
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Flash compensation shouldnt be confused with exposure compensation.
Exposure compensation alters the exposure for ambient and ash light, while ash
compensation doesnt alter how the existing light is recorded just the output of the ash.
Flash bracketing
This technique is recommended in tricky lighting situations,
where it is difcult to set exposure condently and there
is not time to scrutinize results on the cameras LCD and
adjust the settings accordingly. It works in a similar way to
exposure bracketing (see page 59); however, just the ash
output is altered with each subsequent frame, as opposed to
the exposure value. The majority of DSLRs are designed with
a specic ash bracketing facility, where you can select the
number of shots in the sequence and also the ash exposure
increment. Some cameras will allow you to shoot a sequence
of up to nine frames, automatically adjusting ash intensity
after each shot. However, in most situations a series of three
images one taken with negative compensation, another
with no compensation applied and a third with a positive
amount will sufce.
Bracketing is particularly useful if you are a beginner
to ash photography, helping you nd the most pleasing
combination of ambient and ash light.
Positive or negative compensation
You can increase or reduce the light emitted by
your ashgun by setting either positive or negative
compensation. It can be worthwhile bracketing
ash output to ensure you achieve just the effect
you desire.
Nikon SB800 Speedlight, tripod.
0EV +1EV
Therefore, for subtle results, employ negative
compensation, and for more dramatic effects
apply a positive amount. As you use ash more,
and grow familiar with its effects, you will begin
to intuitively recognize just when positive or
negative compensation is required.
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138
Digital cameras offer a choice of ash
modes, designed to suit different subjects
and shooting situations. They enable
photographers to capture more creative
and imaginative results than may have
been possible by simply relying on
standard auto-ash mode.
High-speed sync
Focal-plane (FP) or high-speed synchronization ash is
when the ashguns output is pulsed at an extremely
high rate to simulate a continuous burst. In this mode,
Flash modes
it is possible to synchronize ash exposure with
shutter speeds faster than the normal limits of the
cameras ash-sync. Although not all DSLRs offer this
function, this mode is useful in a variety of situations
for example, if you want to employ a burst of ll-in
ash to relieve harsh shadows, but also want to select
a large aperture to create a shallow depth-of-eld. The
wide aperture lets in more light, but increasing shutter
speed to allow for this will often exceed the cameras
ash-sync speed. High-speed sync is the answer. The
drawback of using this type of pulsed light is that the
effective range of the ashgun is reduced (by as much
as a third). Also, despite its name, the continuous
nature of pulsing light isnt able to freeze movement
in the way a single, powerful burst can.
Flower
Focal-plane ash is ideally suited to situations
where you wish to employ a faster shutter speed
than the cameras ash will allow. In this instance,
I wanted to select a large aperture to create a
narrow depth of eld, but as a result of setting an
f-number of f/4, the shutter speed exceeded the
ash sync. However, by using high-speed ash sync,
I was able to employ a small kiss of ash, which I
needed to relieve the shadows.
Nikon SB800 Speedlight, tripod.

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139
Flash light
Slow sync is a technique where the ash is red
in combination with a slow exposure. It is most
commonly used at night. The ash burst correctly
illuminates the foreground subject, while the long
shutter speed enables the sensor to record ambient
light and detail in the background. Also known as
dragging the shutter, this form of mixing ash
and existing light can create some stunning results
particularly if there is subject movement, which
will create light trails and ghosting while still
retaining the mood of the setting. You should meter
for the scene as you would normally, selecting your
cameras slow-sync mode, or night portrait pre-
programmed exposure mode if it has one, to expose
the foreground subject correctly. As this technique
relies on using a shutter speed of several seconds
or longer, the use of a tripod is essential to keep the
camera still during the exposure. It is also a good
idea to use a remote release or your cameras self-
timer function to ensure you dont move the camera
when releasing the shutter.
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The trick when using any mode of ash is to ensure that the articial burst doesnt
overpower your subject. For this reason it is often worth applying a small degree
of negative exposure compensation, in the region of 2/3 of a stop.
Illuminated statue
Slow-sync ash is ideal in situations where you
wish to record the ambient light but need a burst
of ash to expose a foreground subject. Here I
employed slow-sync ash to illuminate a statue,
while the long exposure correctly exposed the
background and captured the trails of passing cars.
Slow-sync
20sec at f/20, Nikon SB800 Speedlight, tripod.
DEH_Ch4.indd 139 27/11/2012 16:29
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140
The majority of DSLR cameras have a focal-plane
shutter, designed with two curtains: a front and a
rear. The front curtain opens to begin exposure, while
the rear curtain slides shut to end it. Front- and rear-
curtain sync, also known as rst- and second-curtain
synchronization, allow you to select whether the
ash is red at the beginning or end of the exposure.
The moment the ash triggers during exposure
can have a big impact on the look of the nal image.
If it res at the beginning of the exposure (front-
curtain sync) any subsequent motion will appear to
be in front of the subject; while if it res just before
the shutter closes (rear-curtain sync) the motion
will appear to trail the subject. Therefore, before you
begin taking pictures, you need to decide which ash
effect will suit your subject or scene best.
Front- and rear-curtain sync ash
In front-curtain sync mode, the ash is triggered the
instant the shutter is fully open, freezing any subject
motion at the beginning of the exposure. This is
suitable in most situations and is often the cameras
default setting. However, during longer exposures
of moving subjects, a light trail will be recorded in
front of your ash-illuminated subject, creating the
impression that the subject is moving backwards,
which can look articial. Therefore, in situations like
this, it is better to select rear-curtain sync. This mode
res the ash at the end of exposure, just before the
shutter closes. As a result, any light trails appear to
follow the moving, ash-exposed subject, creating
more natural-looking images.
Bumblebee
Different ash modes are suited
to different subjects and lighting
situations. Again, by using high-
speed sync here, I was able to
generate just enough ash light
to relieve contrast in the image.
1/800sec at f/4, SB800 Speedlight,
handheld.
Snooker balls
When using front-curtain
ash (the default setting) to
photograph moving subjects,
the motion trail appears to
be in front of the subject (1),
which can look strange. By
selecting rear-curtain sync,
the light trail, or ghosting, will
appear to follow the subject (2)
and appear more natural.
Nikon D70, 105mm, 1sec at f/18,
ISO 200, SB800 speedlight, tripod.
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Flash light
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142
Direct ash, where the ash head is
aimed directly at the subject, can create
quite harsh, unattering light. Flash is a
relatively small light source, so it creates
quite hard-edged shadows that draw
attention to the use of ash light. One
way to soften the light of on-camera
ash is to spread it over a larger area.
The most effective and simple way to
do this is to bounce the light.
Bounce ash is a technique where the ash head
is intentionally positioned to provide indirect light
onto the subject. It is best to bounce the light off
a large white surface, such as a wall, ceiling or large
portable reector, otherwise the bounced light will
adopt the colour characteristics of the surface it
strikes. Not only is bounced light more diffused and
attering, but it reduces distracting hotspots and,
if you are shooting portraits, eliminates the risk
of red-eye as the ash light is not directed on the
subject-to-lens axis.
Bounce ash
Bounced ash
More natural results are possible by bouncing the
ash off a nearby white wall or ceiling. You will
diffuse the ash light and soften the hard shadow.
Here, (1) was shot using direct ash, while (2) was
taken by bouncing the burst off the ceiling.
SB800 Speedlight, tripod.
To bounce ash, you need an external ashgun
designed with a head that tilts and swivels your
integral unit wont work as its position is xed.
Naturally, the direction in which you bounce the
light will have a bearing on the end result, and will
be dictated by the position of the nearest, most
convenient surface.

Bouncing ash off a ceiling
Tilt the ash head towards the ceiling at a 7590-
degree angle. It will act like a giant reector, bouncing
light downward to evenly expose your subject.
However, the disadvantage of this method is that
if you are shooting portraits, you may notice some
shadow beneath the eyes, nose and lips due to the
way the subject is effectively lit from above.
Reverse bouncing
This method involves directing the ash head at a
4575-degree angle backwards over your shoulder,
to bounce light off both the ceiling and wall behind
you. This will give you a greater level of diffusion
and the light reecting off the wall will relieve any
shadow that may be caused by the light reected
downward from the ceiling. However, a lot of light
is lost when doing this.
Bouncing ash off a wall
This form of side bouncing involves swivelling the
ash head 90 degrees sideways towards the nearest
wall. The wall acts like a large softbox. This form of
bounced light appears more directional, creating areas
of shadow and light, so gives images more depth.
1 2

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Flash light
Harvest mouse
Bounce ash is a useful technique when taking
photos indoors; for example, when photographing
family portraits or still life images. In this instance,
I used bounced ash to create even, shadowless
light when photographing this captive harvest
mouse indoors. Doing so softened the ash burst,
helping disguise the use of an articial light.
Nikon D4, 150mm, ISO 200, 1/200sec at f/5.6,
SB900 Speedlight.
Exposure
The drawback of bouncing ash is that a certain
amount of light is scattered or absorbed typically,
around 2 stops. Also, the light has to travel farther
in order to reach the subject, reducing the effective
range of your ashgun. For the best results, you
need to be within just a few metres of the surface
you intend bouncing from. However, unless you are
using your ash manually, there is no need to worry
about compensating exposure time. The camera
is measuring the light entering through the lens,
so accounts for the extra distance the ash has to
travel and also for the light lost. Therefore, in auto or
TTL mode, dedicated units will automatically adjust
ash output presuming that you stay within the
ashguns effective range, with an appropriate ISO
and aperture selection.
Red-eye
Most snappers are familiar with the effect of red-eye, when
a persons eyes appear red in photographs where ash is the
principal light source. This is caused by the articial burst
reecting off blood vessels at the back of the subjects retina.
The effect of red-eye also affects certain animals, and, while
it can be corrected post capture, it is best to avoid it in the
rst place.
There are various ways to limit its effect. Placing the
ash away from the cameras optical axis will ensure that the
articial burst strikes the eye at an oblique angle. Therefore, if
possible, avoid using your cameras integral ash and instead
use an external ashgun. Also, bounce the ash if possible, so
that only diffused light enters the eye. To help minimize the
risk of red-eye, most digital cameras compact and DSLR
have a built-in red-eye reduction facility. Normally, this
works by emitting a series of short, low-power pre-ashes
in order to contract the iris. Failing this, some cameras have
the facility to correct red-eye in-camera, although, generally
speaking, this isnt as reliable as using the red-eye removal
function built in to many photo editing programs.
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There are a number of ash accessories
available that are specically designed
to bounce or diffuse the typically harsh
lighting of direct ash (see page 144).
DEH_Ch4.indd 143 12/12/2012 16:23
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144
As previously mentioned in this chapter,
one of the drawbacks of using ash light
is that, applied poorly, it can look articial,
casting hard shadows and drawing
attention to its use. While it may be
possible to bounce or diffuse light, doing
so isnt always an option. Thankfully, there
is a wide range of useful ash accessories
available to buy that are designed to help
your ash exposures look more natural
and intended to help you realize the full
creative potential of your ashgun.
Flash accessories
Diffuser
A diffuser is an essential ash accessory that works
by softening the intensity and harshness of the
ash burst. They are available in a wide variety of
designs; it is even possible to buy versions that are
compatible with your cameras pop-up unit.
Diffusers
Although many modern ashguns are designed
with an integral, ip-down diffuser panel, it is still
worthwhile investing in a dedicated diffuser or
softbox. They greatly help to reduce the ash bursts
intensity, softening shadows, reducing the risk of
red-eye and creating more natural-looking results
overall. They are available in a wide range of designs,
but each is intended to do the same job: tting
over the ash head to broaden the lights output
and make it appear less intense. The most popular
type is a push-on diffuser. This is a hard plastic
diffuser that is available to t different ashguns.
You can even buy a version that is compatible
with a DSLRs pop-up unit.
Another popular type of diffuser is a mini-
softbox design. Again, it ts directly to the ash head,
attaching with a hook and loop strap or Velcro, but the
larger design gives a wider, softer, more even diffusion.
Softbox diffuser
Mini-softbox-type diffusers are designed for
hotshoe-mounted ashguns. They help eliminate
red-eye and soften harsh light. They are quick
and easy to use and require no additional adaptor
or bracket.

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Flash light
The drawback of using any type of diffuser is that,
because of how they absorb light, they reduce the
effective range of the ash. As a result, they are best
used when shooting relatively close to the subject;
for example, indoors or in a studio environment.
Extenders
Flash extenders are designed to increase a ashs
range. They concentrate the burst of articial light
via a precision fresnel lens (a concept designed
originally for lighthouses), effectively gaining 2 or
3 stops of light. They attach directly to a ash head
and are best combined with longer focal lengths,
of 300mm and upwards. Therefore, they are most
popular with sports and wildlife photographers
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It is possible to buy coloured gels that attach to the ash head and alter the colour of the light
emitted. They can be used for colour correction or to create dramatic colouring effects for
creative purposes.
who have to shoot subjects from further away.
Presuming you are using TTL metering, there is no
need to adjust your exposure settings when using an
extender as the camera will do this automatically.
However, always ensure that there is a clear, visual
path between the ash and the subject you are
photographing, as anything in between is likely to
appear grossly overexposed receiving too much
light due to the inverse square law (see page 127).

Flash brackets and arms
Although ash can provide very natural-looking
lighting, particularly when it is diffused in some
way, it can also create harsh-looking light if directed
poorly. One way to rectify this is to alter the position
and angle of the ash. Hotshoe-mounted ash can
prove severely limited when you require this type of
creative control over the lights direction and effect.
Often, better results are achieved by positioning
the ash off-camera; for example, to one side of
the lens so shadows are cast in one direction to
create more depth and life. It is possible to mount
your ash off-camera using a dedicated ash arm
or bracket. There is a wide range of designs available,
with different makes and models offering different
levels of functionality.
Wireless ash triggers
The ability to re your ashgun off-camera
generates a whole new creative perspective: for
example, you can transform a portrait by moving
the lights direction to one side; add light to the
shadow areas of a still life; or add impact to action.
While ash can be used off-camera using off-camera
shoe cords, an easier option is using wireless ash
triggers. Although more costly, they replace a tangle
of leads and wires, and are far more convenient to
use. Hahnel, Phottix and PocketWizard are among
the leading brands of wireless devices, providing
radio triggering for one or more ashguns over a
large range (some work up to a range of 550 yards
or 500m) using a choice of channels. Most designs
support the cameras maximum ash-sync speed.
Custom bracket
Compared to having your ash camera-mounted,
ash brackets and arms provide far greater lighting
exibility. They allow you to be more creative
in the way you position and direct your burst
of articial light.
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5
Filters

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5
Filters
While it is true that digital capture has
replaced the need for some traditional,
in-camera lters, some lter types remain
an essential creative and corrective tool
for photographers today. A cameras
white balance function may be a far more
convenient method of correcting the
lights colour temperature than attaching
a colour-balancing lter (as was once
necessary), but the role and necessity of
many other lter types remains unaltered.
For example, the effect of a polarizer
(see page 160) or extreme neutral-density
lter (see page 154) is impossible to
mimic post capture. Filters can have a
huge effect on exposure and light, so their
relevance to digital exposure is signicant.
Although there is a wide range of lter
types available to buy, this chapter only
deals with the lters most relevant and
useful to photography today.
Filters can benet a wide range of subjects, but they
are most suited to landscape photography (see page
74). Although some lter effects can be replicated
using imaging software such as Photoshop, there are
benets to ltering the light at the time of exposure,
which is why in-camera ltration is more popular
today than ever before. The corrective and creative
effects of ltration are easier to apply and manage
today thanks to digital tools such as image playback
and histograms. A word of warning, though: it is
important not to get in the habit of using lters just
for the sake of it. Only attach lters when they will
genuinely benet your images. Attaching a lter in
the wrong situation, or when it isnt really required,
will have the opposite effect to what you intended:
degrading rather then enhancing a photo. Filters
will not miraculously transform a bad image into a
good one. However, applied appropriately they will
enhance your photography and help you achieve
results that would have been impossible otherwise.
Filter factor
Due to their design, many lter types reduce the amount
of light reaching the sensor. This is known as the lter
factor a measurement indicating the degree of light that
is absorbed. The higher the lter factor the greater the light
loss and if the exposure settings are not adjusted accordingly,
the resulting photograph will be underexposed (see page
58). TTL metering measures the actual light entering the
lens. Therefore it will compensate for the lters factor
automatically. However, it is still important to be aware
of the effect lters have on exposure.
The lter factor should be stated either on the lter, its
mount or packaging. The table below lists the amount of
light that a handful of the most popular lter types absorb.

Filter: Filter factor: Exposure increase:
Polarizer 4x 2 stops
ND 0.1 1.3x 1/3 stop
ND 0.3 2x 1 stop
ND 0.6 4x 2 stops
ND 0.9 8x 3 stops
ND 1.8 64x 6 stops
ND 3.0 1000x 10 stops
ND grads 1x None
Skylight/UV 1x None
Close-up 1x None

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Filters
149 149 149
Vignetting
This can be a common and frustrating lter-related problem.
It occurs when the light is obstructed from reaching the edges
of the frame during exposure. The result is a photograph
with visible darkening at the corners. Often, vignetting is
caused by stacking two or more screw-in type lters, or
using a lter holder (see page 150) in combination with a
screw-in lter, while using a wide-angle lens. However, it can
also occur if a lter holder is positioned at an angle, instead
of straight. Super wide-angle lenses are particularly prone
to this problem and vignetting will almost certainly occur
when combining lters at focal lengths below 18mm. You
might think that the effect would be obvious when you look
through the viewnder. However, it can easily go undetected,
due to the fact that many DSLR viewnders only display
around 9197% of the actual image area. Switch to Live
View for 100% viewnder coverage.
The effect of ltration
Digital capture may have negated
the need for some lter types,
but lters remain an important
creative tool. The following
images help illustrate how they
can be used to enhance a scene:
for the rst image (1), no lters
were attached; for the second
shot (2), a 3-stop ND grad and
10-stop ND were used.
Nikon D800, 1735mm
(at 17mm), ISO 100, 90sec
at f/11, 3-stop ND grad,
10-stop ND, tripod (2 only).
1
2
Mountain lake
Darkening of the corners of the frame is a common
problem when using ultra wide-angle lenses in
combination with lters and lter holders.
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Filters are available in two distinct types:
screw- or slot-in. Screw-in lters are
circular in design and attach directly to
the front of the lens via its lter thread.
Slot-in lters are square or rectangular
pieces of glass, or optical resin, that attach
to the lens via a dedicated lter holder.
Filter users often employ a hybrid system,
investing in certain screw-in-type lters
and also a modular slot-in system.
Screw-in lters
Circular screw-in lters are produced in specic lter
threads; for example, 52mm, 58mm, 67mm and
77mm are all popular sizes. Therefore, it is important
to buy lters that t the thread size of the lens
you intend using it with. Many photographers have
a variety of lenses in their system, all typically
boasting a different lter thread size. As a result,
lter compatibility between different optics can be
an issue. While you could buy a set of lters for each
Screw-in or slot-in lters?
The Rumps
Different lters perform different roles; therefore,
it can be necessary to employ a combination of
screw-in and slot-in lter types. In this instance,
I combined a circular polarizer with a solid neutral-
density, slot-in-type lter. The polarizing lter
helped to enhance the sky, while the ND lengthened
the shutter time to intentionally render the sea
a milky blur.
30sec at f/18, polarizer, 3-stop ND, tripod.

thread size, this isnt economical or practical, proving
costly and adding weight to your bag. Instead, step-
rings offer a simple solution. They are designed to
adapt a lter to a lens, when the two have differing
diameters. For instance, if you had a 67mm screw-in
lter but wanted to attach it to a 58mm lens, the
appropriate step-down ring would allow you to do
this. Step-down rings are a cost-effective way to
expand the compatibility of larger lters. Step-up
rings, allowing smaller lters to be attached to larger
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Screw-in lters
Screw-in lters are available
in a variety of sizes and types.
One of the most useful
screw-in types are UV or
skylight lters.
Filter system
At the hub of a slot-in system,
is the holder or lter bracket.
Normally it will be designed with
two or three slots, allowing you to
combine lter types. The Lee Filters
holder is customizable, and can be
constructed with one, two, three
or even four slots.
Adaptor rings
Adaptor rings are required to
attach lter holders to the
lenss lter thread. They are
available in various sizes to
suit different diameter lenses.
diameter lenses, are also available. However, they are
usually best avoided, as they increase the likelihood
of vignetting (see page 149).
If you decide to invest in a system of circular
lters and step-rings, remember you will need to buy
a set of lters that t the largest diameter lens in your
current system. This could be up to 77mm or 82mm
in size. Not only will the initial outlay prove costly, but
also lters of this diameter will prove bulky in your
camera bag. Instead, many rely on the versatility of
using a slot-in system, and only buy essential screw-in
type lters such as a polarizer (see page 160).
Slot-in lters
The advantage of using a slot-in system is that you
can use the same lters and holder on all the lenses
in your set-up. This is possible via adaptor rings,
which are inexpensive and available to t different
thread sizes. The adaptor rings attach directly to
the holder, but can be removed quickly should you
need to swap the holder and lters from one lens to
another. Also, due to the holders design, it is possible
to employ two or three lters together without
increasing the risk of vignetting. Holders are usually
designed with three lter slots, making it possible
to combine technical and creative lters together to
achieve different results.
Without doubt, a slot-in system is the most
cost-effective, compatible and versatile method to
apply in-camera ltration. Simply speaking, it is the
best long-term investment for regular lter users.
Not only is a slot-in system expandable, but lters
can be slid into position and removed quickly vital
if the light, or conditions, are quickly changing. There
is a variety of systems on the market, with popular
lter brands being Cokin, Lee Filters and Hitech.
Typically, they are available in three progressive sizes
67mm, 84/85mm and 100mm designed to cater
for different budgets and capabilities. A large 150mm
system is also available, designed to cater for wide-
angles with a protruding front element.
It is best to opt for the largest lter system that
you can justify buying, as smaller holders will not be
compatible with larger diameter lenses and the risk
of vignetting is greatly increased when using wide
focal lengths. A 100mm system is the best long-term
investment for landscape photographers.
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UV or skylight lters are clear lters designed to absorb UV light. While the effects of
using them are fairly minimal, they provide a cheap method of protecting the lenss
delicate front element from getting scratched or damaged.
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One of the most popular and regularly
used lter types, the neutral-density (ND)
lter is designed to absorb light entering
the camera and reaching the sensor.
By doing so, the lter can be employed
to articially lengthen exposure time.
Although solid ND lters can be useful
in situations when there is too much light
and you wish to employ a larger aperture
than the light or camera capabilities will
allow, they are more commonly used to
lengthen shutter speeds to creatively blur
subject motion.
ND lters have a neutral grey coating, designed to
absorb all the colours in the visible spectrum in equal
amounts. This coating prevents them from creating
a colour cast; altering only the brightness of light, not
its colour. They are produced in a range of densities,
to suit different conditions and purposes and in both
slot- and screw-in types. Their strength is printed on
the lter, or mount the darker their shade of grey,
Neutral-density (ND) lters
the greater their absorption of light. A density of
0.1 represents a light loss of 1/3 stop and the most
popular strengths are 0.3 (1 stop), 0.6 (2 stops) and 0.9
(3 stops). Extreme versions, with a density equivalent
of up to 10 stops, are also available (see page 154).
If required, two or more solid ND lters can
be combined to generate an even greater light loss.
However, a 0.9 ND, which is equivalent to a 3-stop
reduction in light, is usually adequate in most shooting
situations where you wish to articially lengthen
exposure. For instance, using one will lengthen a
(unltered) shutter speed of 1/8sec to 1sec; or permit
Godrevy Lighthouse
In order to generate a shutter speed long enough
to render the rising tide as an ethereal-looking
blur, I attached a solid 3-stop ND lter to absorb
the ambient light. While the effect is subjective,
personally I love the impression of motion ND
lters create.
1min at f/11, 2-stop ND grad, 3-stop ND, tripod.

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Capturing motion
By articially lengthening exposure time, ND lters
are capable of dramatically altering the appearance
of motion. It is possible to alter the look, feel and
mood of a shot by using solid NDs to intentionally
blur the movement of cloud, water, foliage, owers,
crops and even people. Here, image 1 was taken
without an ND lter, while for image 2 ltration
was used.
25sec at f/22, 3-stop ND, tripod (1 only).
2
the use of an f-stop 3 stops wider. This represents
a signicant shift in exposure, which has the potential
to vastly alter the appearance of the nal shot.
Intentionally emphasizing movement is a powerful
aesthetic tool (see page 54). Traditionally, solid ND
lters are most popularly used to create lengthy
exposures to blur the movement of running water,
for example a waterfall or rising tide. This is a favourite
technique among many outdoor photographers, as
the water adopts a milky white blur, which can help
produce atmospheric-looking results. However, ND
lters can also be used to creatively blur, among other
things, the movement of people, owers or wildlife.
No other lter type has a greater effect on
exposure than solid NDs. However, presuming you
are using your cameras internal TTL meter, you will
not usually need to make any manual adjustments
for the lters factor. Unless you are using an extreme
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ND lters signicantly darken the cameras viewnder, making it trickier to focus
and compose images. Therefore, only attach the lter after you have arranged your shot.
If you are shooting in manual exposure mode (see page 63), remember to adjust
exposure settings before triggering the shutter.
ND, simply meter with the lter in place and the
camera will automatically compensate for its density.
If you are using a non-TTL meter, then remember to
adjust the reading by the strength of the lter in use.
1
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These lters have quickly become a must
have for landscape photography. With a
lter factor of up to 10 stops (or 1000x),
they enable photographers to slow down
exposure to the extreme even in bright
light you can employ lengthy shutter
speeds of 30sec or longer. Their key
characteristic is the effect they have on
motion, creating eye-catching results.
Although 1.8 (6 stops) and 2.4 (8 stops) densities
are available, 3.0 (10 stops) ND lters are the most
popular versions on the market with Lee Filters, Big
Stopper a favourite. Even in good light, where you
would naturally be using an exposure of a fraction
of a second, a 10-stop ND allows photographers
to employ articially long exposures. For example,
an unltered shutter speed of 1/15sec will be
lengthened to 1min with the lter attached. During
an exposure of this length, a lot can alter: drifting
cloud will be transformed into brushstrokes, moving
water is recorded smooth and glass-like, and passing
people or trafc can disappear altogether. This is
a highly creative lter type and it will give your
images atmosphere.
The density of extreme ND lters is so great
that you can see little, if anything, through them.
Therefore, composition, focusing and any other
ltration required, needs to done before attaching
the lter. Alternatively, Live View can prove a great
aid when using extreme ND lters, often giving
a clear enough image on the monitor to allow
photographers to tweak composition and align ND
grads without having to remove the lter; however,
on some models, Live View isnt sensitive enough to
be of any help.
Extreme ND lters are particularly effective when
used in constant, overcast light for photographing
subjects with strong, bold shapes; for example, a pier,
lighthouse, groyne or windmill. Even in grey weather,
the length of exposure will transform a textured
sky, helping create an arty masterpiece that suits
conversion to monochrome (see page 176).
Extreme neutral-density lters
Calculating exposure
With a huge lter factor of 1000x, calculating exposure
and achieving correct results using a 10-stop ND lter isnt
always easy. Because of the lters density, a cameras TTL
metering will normally fail to select a correct exposure.
Often the length of exposure will exceed the cameras
slowest shutter speed anyway this is typically 30sec.
Therefore, photographers often have to do a little basic
arithmetic when using extreme NDs, and they will also
often have to employ their cameras bulb (see page 50)
setting in order to keep the shutter open manually.
So how do you calculate correct exposure? One option
is to take a meter reading without the lter attached and
then increase exposure time by 10 stops. For example, if the
unltered meter reading is 1/15sec, with a 10-stop ND lter
attached it will be 1min 1 stop is 1/8sec; 2 stops is 1/4sec;
3 stops is 1/2sec, and so on. However, rather than working
this out manually, photocopy the chart below and keep it
in your camera bag. Alternatively, use the calculator on
your mobile phone, multiplying the original exposure by
1000x. If you own a smart phone, you can even download
applications that do all the hard work for you calculating
exposure depending on the strength of the ND lter you
are using; NDCalc is one of the most popular Apps. Extreme
NDs are rarely exactly 10 stops in density, so review the
histogram of extreme exposures and be prepared to lengthen
or shorten exposure time if necessary.

Unltered exposure Exposure with 10-stop ND
1/500sec 2sec
1/250sec 4sec
1/125sec 8sec
1/60sec 15sec
1/30sec 30sec
1/15sec 1min
1/8sec 2min
1/4sec 4min
1/2sec 8min
1sec 16min
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Filter types
Due to the popularity of
extreme ND lters, there is a
good choice among lter brands.
The most practical type is a
slot-in version. Lee Filters Big
Stopper is a favourite among
professionals. While ND lters
of this density are rarely truly
neutral, the Lee version only
displays a slight cast typically
a cool, blue hue that is easily
corrected in-camera using WB
or it can be neutralized post
capture. Hitechs Pro Stopper
is another good option. Among
the circular, screw-in types
available, the B+W ND-110
is very good, but the cast is
stronger, adding a warm, orange
brown hue to images. Again,
it can be corrected relatively
easily and the cast is irrelevant
if you intend to later convert to
black and white. Not all extreme
ND lters have a density of 10
stops; 6-, 8- and even 13-stop
versions are also available. Singh
Ray are among the brands that
produce a vari-ND lter. You can
alter the lters density from
2 to 8 stops by simply twisting
the front section of the mount.
Extreme exposures
10-stop ND lters have the
ability to transform otherwise
quite ordinary looking scenes,
or light, into atmospheric,
visually striking photographs.
During lengthy exposures,
cloud movement is rendered
as brushstrokes and even
choppy water appears smooth
and reective.
Nikon D300, 1024mm (20mm),
ISO 100, 3min at f/22, 3-stop ND
grad, 10-stop ND, tripod.
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During such long exposures, light leakage can prove a problem, resulting in ugly are, or strips
of light on the nal image. To minimize the risk, always place extreme NDs in the lter slot
closest to the lens and also keep the cameras eyepiece covered during exposure.
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The sky tends to be lighter than the
landscape below it. The difference in
brightness between land and sky can be
equivalent to several stops, and the level
of contrast will often exceed the sensors
dynamic range (see page 28). As a result,
if you expose correctly for the sky,
the foreground will be too dark; but if
you meter for the land, the sky will be
overexposed and the highlights washed
out. This is a common exposure problem
for scenic photographers. The only
in-camera method to balance the light
in unevenly lit scenes is using graduated
neutral density lters.
Graduated neutral-density (ND) lters
These lters are half-clear and half-coated, with
a transitional zone where they meet. They work
in a similar way to a solid neutral-density lter.
However, a graduated ND lter is designed to only
block light from one area of the image, as opposed
to all of it.
They are brilliantly simple to use. With your lter
holder attached (see page 150), slide the ND grad
in from the top and then while looking through
the camera viewnder or using Live View align the
lters transitional area with the horizon. By using
an ND grad of an appropriate density, you are able
to balance the contrast in light and bring the whole
scene within the sensors dynamic range, ensuring
detail is retained in both the shadows and highlights.
They are typically available in 0.3 (1 stop), 0.6
(2 stops) and 0.9 (3 stops) strengths. Which density
ND grad you require will depend on the lighting and
the effect you wish to achieve.
1-stop ND grad Without ND grad

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The most precise way to work out which density grad
to apply is to take spot meter readings (see page 22)
from the land and sky then calculate the difference
between the two. For example, if the reading from the
sky is 1/250sec and the one for the land is 1/8sec,
the difference would be about 5 stops. Remember,
a stop is a halving or doubling of an exposure value.
This is a fairly typical level of contrast. However, our
eyes naturally perceive the sky to be lighter than the
land, so dont attempt to balance the light evenly. For
example, in the instance above, I would suggest using
a 3-stop ND grad in order to leave a natural-looking
2-stop contrast between the sky and land combining
two grads to generate 5-stops-worth of graduation
would create an unnatural, ugly result. Remember, the
key to ltration is to create authentic-looking results.
2-stop ND grad 3-stop ND grad
Graduated ND comparison
The land is typically darker than the sky. The most
popular method for balancing the contrast in a
scene is to employ graduated ND lters. They are
available in 1-stop, 2-stop and 3-stop strengths
and with either a hard or soft transition (see
below) in order to suit different scenes and lighting
conditions. Their effect can be better understood
by looking at this picture sequence. In this instance,
the result using a 2-stop ND grad produces the
correct result.
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While coloured grads are also available including blue, grey, tobacco and coral
their effect can look very unnatural. If you wish to add a colour hue to bland-looking skies,
it is best done post capture in Photoshop when the effect is reversible and
can be applied with far more precision.
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Most landscape photographers rely on ND grads to
achieve perfect exposures in-camera. The alternative
to using grads is taking two exposures of the same
image one correctly exposed for the sky, and another
for the land then later blend them together, to
create a correctly exposed result overall, using photo
editing software (see page 178). There are advantages
to this technique, but the process involves spending
more time in front of a computer, which wont suit
every photographer. For those who prefer to get
things right in-camera, ND grads are the best option.
Like solid ND lters, grads are available as
both screw-in and slot-in types. Circular versions
are not recommended, though, as once attached
to the lens, the position of their transitional zone
is effectively xed, dictating where you place the
Types of graduated neutral-density (ND) lters
horizon in your photo and limiting your choice of
composition. Slot-in versions are rectangular in
design and can be slid up and down in the holder so
that the photographer can position the graduated
zone precisely, depending on where the horizon is
positioned in your photo. Accurate placement of the
grad is important, particularly if you are using one
with a hard transition. If you inadvertently push the
lter too far down in the holder so that the coated
area overlaps the foreground the landscape will
also be ltered and look articially dark. Equally, if
you dont slide the lter down far enough, you will
create a noticeable bright band close to the horizon
where the sky isnt ltered. However, positioning the
lter correctly is normally straightforward and, with
just a little practice, very easy to do.
Soft- or hard-edged?
Graduated neutral-density lters are available in two types:
hard- and soft-edged. Soft ND lters are designed with
a feathered edge, providing a gentle transition from the
coated portion of the lter to the clear zone, while a hard
ND is designed with a more sudden transition. Both types
are useful, depending on the scene.
Soft grads are better suited to shooting landscapes with
broken horizons, as they dont noticeably or abruptly darken
objects breaking the skyline, such as buildings, mountains or
trees. However, on the downside, only around a third of the
lter is coated with its full density before it begins to fade
to transparent.
This can be a problem, as usually the brightest part of the
sky will be just above the horizon where a soft grad is at
its weakest. As a result, to avoid this strip of horizon from
overexposing, it may be necessary to align the lter lower
in the holder so that it begins to overlap the ground, which
isnt ideal.
In contrast, hard grads are designed so the full strength
of their specied density is spread over a greater proportion of
the coated area. They can be aligned with far more precision
and allow photographers to reduce the brightness of the sky
with greater accuracy than a soft grad. On the downside, they
are far less forgiving should you position the lter incorrectly,
so they require careful use.
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ND grads can be combined together to create even higher densities, which is useful when there
is extreme contrast between the land and sky. However, although intended to be neutral,
you may notice a colour cast (typically magenta) when combing budget ND lters.
Soft-edged
Hard-edged
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Evening glow
ND grads allow photographers to capture detail
throughout high-contrast scenes. They are
particularly useful during the golden hours at dawn
and dusk. Hard grads are well suited to landscapes
with a straight, even horizon like beach scenes.
Nikon D700, 1735mm (at 20mm) ISO 100,
30sec at f/16, 3-stop ND grad, tripod.
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If you only have room for one lter in
your camera bag, carry a polarizer: no
other lter will have a greater impact
on your images. They are designed to
eliminate glare, reduce reections and
enhance colour saturation effects that
are impossible to replicate post capture.
For outdoor photographers, a polarizer
is a must-have accessory.
To appreciate how a polarizer works, it is rst
necessary to have a basic understanding of how
light travels. Light is transmitted in waves, the
wavelengths of which determine the way we
perceive colour. They dont just travel up and down
in one plane, the vibrations exist in all possible
planes through 360 degrees. When they strike a
surface, a percentage of wavelengths are reected,
while others are absorbed. It is these that dene
the colour of the surface. For example, a blue-
coloured object will reect blue wavelengths of
light, while absorbing others. It is for this reason
that foliage is green, as it absorbs all wavelengths
of light other than those forming the green part of
the visible spectrum.
Polarized light is different. It is the result of
wavelengths being reected or scattered and only
travels in a single direction. It is these wavelengths
that cause glare and reections, reducing the
intensity of a surfaces colour. It is prevalent, for
example, in light reected from non-metallic
surfaces, such as water, and in light from blue sky at
90 degrees to the sun. A polarizing lter is designed
to restore contrast and natural colour saturation by
blocking polarized light from entering the lens and
reaching the image sensor.
A polarizing lter is constructed from a thin
foil of polarizing material, sandwiched between two
circular pieces of optical glass. Unlike other lters,
the front of its mount can be rotated. Doing so
affects the angle of polarization, which alters the
degree of polarized light that can pass through
the lter. The direction that wavelengths of polarized
light travel in is inconsistent, but the point of
optimal contrast can soon be determined by simply
twisting the lter in its mount while looking through
Polarizing lters
the cameras viewnder. As you do so, you will see
reections come and go and the intensity of colours
strengthen and fade. The strength of this effect
depends on the angle of the camera in relation to
the sun. Some surfaces remain unaffected by the
polarizing effect; for instance, metallic objects such
as polished steel and chrome plate do not reect
polarized light patterns.
A polarizer has a 4x lter factor (see page 148),
which is equivalent to 2 stops of light. Therefore,
attaching one will affect exposure. Your cameras
TTL metering will automatically adjust for this,
but remember that the shutter length will be
lengthened as a result.
Linear or circular what is the difference?
Polarizing lters are available in two types: linear and
circular. This can prove confusing if you are new to using
lters, with photographers being unsure which to buy.
Although both types are (typically) physically circular in
shape and look identical, the design of the linear type will
affect the metering accuracy of auto-focus cameras, as they
polarize some light internally. If this light is also polarized
by a lter a false meter reading will result. To correct this,
circular polarizers are constructed with a wave-retardation
plate one-quarter of a wavelength thick. This allows the
wavelengths passing through the lter to rotate and appear
un-polarized to the cameras metering system. Therefore,
digital photographers need to opt for the circular type to
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Polarizing effects
The difference between a polarized and non-
polarized photograph can be dramatic. The lter
can bring images to life, cutting through haze and
improving clarity and subject denition. In this
instance, the photograph without a polarizer
(1) is rather dull and nondescript. In contrast,
the subsequent shot (2) taken with polarizer
attached is vibrant, with more saturated colours.
1/80sec at f/4, polarizer, tripod (2 only).
Oxeye daisies
If you wish to capture eye-catching images with
strong, vibrant colours, attach a polarizer. Subjects
captured against a clear, blue sky will stand out.
Here, a polarized sky provided the perfect backdrop
for a group of oxeye daisies.
2
1
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Polarizers are synonymous with vibrant blue skies.
Our atmosphere contains air molecules and tiny
suspended particles, smaller than a wavelength of
light, both of which scatter light. This scattered light
is polarized, which is why polarizing lters work so
effectively to intensify the colour of skies. However,
the strength of the effect will vary depending on the
angle of the camera in relation to the sun. Light from
the sun is most highly polarized in the areas that
are at 90 degrees to the sun. Therefore, to achieve
the most obvious result, position the camera at
right angles to the sun this is known as Brewsters
angle. The polarizing effect appears at its most
pronounced during morning and evening, when the
sun is lower in the sky. However, the lter will have
little or no effect on hazy, cloudy skies.
Although many photographers invest in a polarizing
lter simply for its ability to deepen blue skies, they
have many uses aside. Due to the way they reduce
glare reecting from foliage, they are useful when
taking countryside images, restoring colour and
contrast. They are also useful when shooting oral
close-ups, revealing their true colour. The polarizing
effect is particularly noticeable if foliage is damp,
as wet leaves and petals reect more stray light.
A polarizer will cut through this sheen, so attach
one next time you shoot foliage after a downpour.
A polarizer can also be employed to reduce, or
eliminate, reections. So, if you wish to photograph
a subject underneath the water sh and coral
in a rockpool, for instance a polarizer will
weaken the reections on the waters surface to
Water lily
Polarizers cut through the glare reecting from
foliage, especially when wet. The rst frame (1)
was shot without ltration, while a polarizer was
attached before capturing the second frame (2).
1/8sec at f/9, polarizer, tripod (2 only).
Using polarizing lters
1 2
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Although a polarizer has a 2-stop lter factor, its effect on exposure can uctuate
depending on the degree of polarization. Therefore, always meter with the lter in place
to ensure an accurate exposure. If using a handheld spot meter, place the lter over the
meters lens, ensuring that no light enters from the sides.
reveal what is below. Equally, they can be used to
diminish distracting reections from glass, making
polarizers well suited to photographing modern
buildings and urban landscapes. However, it should
be emphasized that eliminating reections is not
always desirable. While some reections can prove
ugly and distracting, others enhance a photograph;
for example, a mountain range reected in a still
loch. In situations like this, the reections form an
integral part of the composition. This isnt to say
you shouldnt still attach a polarizer. Removing the
sheen on the waters surface can actually intensify
reections. Regulate the effect by slowly rotating
the lter until you get the result you want.
Polarizing problems
As useful as polarizing lters are, a few problems can
occur when using them. Thankfully, once you are aware of
the problems, they are relatively easy to avoid. The most
common polarizer-related problem is over-polarization.
While a deep blue sky might look seductive, it is possible
to overdo the effect. It is important to remember the most
attering effect isnt necessarily achieved at full polarization
and at the optimal point the effect can be too strong. This
can render skies unnaturally dark, or even black. Over-
polarization is most likely when photographing a blue sky
overhead at high altitudes. Often the effect will be obvious
through the viewnder, but review images via playback.
Another relatively common problem is uneven polarization.
This is when the polarizing effect is uneven across the sky.
Short focal lengths below 24mm are most prone to this, as
they capture such a broad expanse of sky. As a result, when
taking pictures at certain angles to the sun, you may nd the
colour of the sky will be irregular, being dark in some areas,
but lighter in others. Either employ a longer focal length, or
adjust your shooting position, to correct the problem.
Finally, the risk of vignetting (see page 149) is enhanced
when using a polarizer. This is because, being constructed
with two pieces of glass, the mount can be quite deep.
Thankfully, many lter brands now market ultra-slim
polarizers to minimize the occurrence of vignetting.
Lake view
With this shot, I attached a polarizer and, while
peering through the viewnder, slowly rotated it
until the sheen on the waters surface was removed.
As a result, the colourful early morning reections
were intensied, enhancing the impact of this shot.
1min at f/16, 3-stop ND grad, polarizer, tripod.
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Exposure in the
digital darkroom

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Exposure in the digital darkroom
Triggering the shutter and capturing
a photo is just the beginning an image
still needs processing before it is ready
to be shared, printed or published.
Presuming exposure was correct at the
time of capture, images shot in Jpeg
should require very little further work.
However, if, as recommended, you shoot
in Raw (see page 68), your photographs
are effectively unprocessed data. Just
like a lm negative, you need to carefully
process Raw les if you want your images
to full their full potential.
While you dont need to be a Photoshop whiz in
order to bring your Raw les to life, it is important
to be familiar with at least a handful of essential
post processing tools. Post processing can have a
huge bearing on exposure; in practice, the two go
hand-in-hand. In the digital darkroom, you can alter
exposure, make images lighter or darker, and also
make ne adjustments to shadow and highlight
areas. It is possible to blend exposures in order to
mimic the effect of graduated ND lters (see page
156), or even combine multiple exposures to create
a High Dynamic Range (HDR) image (see page 180)
a technique designed to overcome the dynamic
range limitations of a digital chip. You can also add
contrast and saturation to your shots, or convert
them into moody black and white photos. All this is
possible using relatively basic software and modest
post processing skills.
Naturally, post processing is a huge topic, to
which entire books are dedicated. Although it is
impossible to go into processing techniques in any
great depth in a single chapter, the following pages
are dedicated to digital darkroom techniques and
topics that are particularly relevant to exposure,
complementing subjects covered in previous chapters.
Software
Using appropriate image editing software to edit
and process your les is important. Although digital
cameras are usually bundled with a dedicated
software package, most enthusiasts prefer using
third-party programs. Although this is an extra cost,
their power and range of capabilities are unrivalled.
Adobe Photoshop is widely recognized as the industry
standard, but just so you are aware of the options
available, I have briey outlined a handful of the most
useful and popular software packages available.
Processing
Raw les in particular need at
least some degree of processing
applied to them in order to
reveal their true impact and
potential. For example, the rst
image is an unprocessed le,
without any adjustments made
to exposure, colour balance,
contrast or saturation. The
second image is the same as
the rst, but after a few simple
tweaks had been made using
Lightroom. The difference is
signicant. The nal image
resembles the scene I remember
photographing far more closely.
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Nikon D800, 1735mm (at 35mm), ISO 200, 2min at f/16sec,
3-stop ND grad, tripod.
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Popular software packages
Adobe Photoshop Creative Suite Photoshop CS is the most popular and widely used imaging program.
Quite simply, it is the ultimate image-manipulation package,
providing one application for managing, adjusting and presenting
large volumes of digital les. However, many photographers will
never require, or fully utilize, its full capabilities, so a limited version
can prove more practical and economical.
Adobe Photoshop Elements This is a stripped-down version of the full Photoshop CS package.
It is a fraction of the cost, yet still possesses the key editing tools
and enough features to satisfy the vast majority of photographers.
It is a digital photographers essential toolbox.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom This is a popular and sophisticated workow and Raw editing
package designed to help photographers process, organize and
archive large numbers of images. Aimed at professionals and
enthusiasts alike, it allows you to ne-tune your photographs
with precise, easy-to-use tools. For many photographers, it offers
all the processing options they will ever need.
Phase One Capture One This Raw workow software is the perfect choice for high-volume
photography, as it is designed to handle many images at a time.
Renowned for its excellent image quality, Capture One offers
unlimited batch capability, multiple output les from each conversion,
and IPTC/EXIF (meta data) support among many other essential
features. It is available in full or limited edition (LE) versions.
Apple Aperture This innovative package offers next-generation Raw processing for
producing images of the highest quality. It provides a quick preview
mode for rapid-re photo browsing, as well as image adjustment
controls such as Recovery, Denition, Vibrancy and Soft-edged
Retouch brush for removing unwanted elements from photographs.
It also has iPhoto library facilities. It is only available for Apple
Macintosh computers.
Corel Paintshop Pro PaintShop Pro is an inexpensive alternative to Photoshop. It provides
a depth of functionality, allowing photographers to download, view,
sort and quickly process their digital photographs. This is easy-to-use,
powerful and affordable software.
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Jpegs require less post production and
effort, so why shoot in Raw? The answer
is simple. When you capture a Jpeg (or Tiff)
in-camera, all the shooting parameters
white balance, sharpening, and so on are
already applied to the image to produce a
processed nished article. Although this
might be the simplest, most convenient
option, you are effectively allowing the
camera to make a series of important,
interpretive decisions on your behalf.
Jpegs (see page 68) are also a compressed le type,
meaning important picture information is discarded.
In contrast, by shooting in Raw, you are effectively
capturing a digital negative containing untouched,
raw pixel information. Raw les contain more
information, a wider level of tones, have a greater
dynamic range and are generally more tolerant
of error. They are the best option for maximizing
image quality and allow you more control over the
look of the nal converted image.
Digital photographers naturally wish to capture
photos with the highest image quality. The range
of tones and colours captured are of particular
importance. The majority of DSLRs capture either
12 or 14 bits of data in order to do this. 12-bit
sensors can record 4,096 tonal levels, while a
14-bit chip can capture 16,384 different brightness
levels. However, a photograph captured in Jpeg is
converted in-camera to 8-bit mode, reducing the
levels of brightness to just 256 levels. By retaining
the sensors full bit depth, Raw capture enables
photographers to extract, among other things,
shadow and highlight detail during conversion
that may otherwise have been lost. Higher bit
depth also reduces an images susceptibility to
posterization an effect where abrupt changes
from one tone to another are obvious.
For most types of photography, the argument
to shoot in Raw format is hard to ignore. However,
a Raw les latitude for error is no excuse for
laziness or complacency. The need to achieve good
exposures in-camera is as important as always.
Why shoot Raw?
Raw conversion software
A Raw le is effectively unprocessed digital data until it is
converted. Therefore, unlike a Jpeg, it cannot be opened and
viewed without using appropriate software. Raw formats
differ between camera manufacturers, so dedicated software
has to be used. Digital cameras are bundled with proprietary
programs, but their capabilities vary tremendously some
being highly sophisticated, while others are relatively basic.
As a result, many photographers prefer to convert their Raw
images using third-party software. Adobe, Apple, Phase One,
DxO and even Google market Raw conversion software that
allows you to download, browse, correct and process your
Raw les with the minimum of fuss.

Downloading and backup
It is easy to download images onto your hard drive
and open them in your chosen software. Using a
card reader is more convenient than connecting
your DSLR to the computer. Hardware can fail, so
always backup your images on an external hard
drive, or use remote storage, before formatting
the card ready for reuse.
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Most digital SLRs allow photographers
to capture RAW and Jpeg simultaneously
ideal if you want to shoot Raw yet still require
Jpegs for quick reference.
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Cornish lighthouse
Having downloaded your images, look through
them and select the photos you wish to process.
Most programs have a useful star rating system
to classify your shots. Having read this handbook,
hopefully you will have achieved the exposure
you desire in-camera. However, Raw les will
still need a number of adjustments made to them
particularly if you practise exposing to the right
(see page 34) so be prepared to invest a little time
and effort in your shots to achieve the best result.
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Raw workow
To get the most from your Raw images,
you need to be able to process them
appropriately. Raw software is very
advanced and sophisticated today, so
when you have decided which package
you wish to use, buy a detailed manual
for that program; it will provide a much
fuller, more detailed description of the
tools available to you than is possible
here. However, whatever package you
opt for, the basic tools and therefore
workow will be very similar. Below
is a brief overview of a number of key
tools. They dont need to be applied
in any particular order; you will soon
develop your own personal workow.
Setting the black and white points
This is a logical rst step that helps to ensure the
tones in the image are spread across the full range
of the histogram. If there are gaps between the
right and left limits of the horizontal axis, the image
is not using the full range of tones and may lack
contrast as a result, although this may be desirable
for some images.
The black and white points are typically set
using the Levels control. The histogram will be
displayed alongside the image when it is opened
in your Raw converter. Beneath the histogram are
normally three sliders: the pointer on the far right
represents pure white (255); the pointer to the far
left, pure black (0); and the middle pointer represents
the mid-tone (128). To set the black point, move the

black point slider to the right, to the point just in
front of the rst line of the histogram. The image
will grow darker. To set the white point, drag the
white point slider to the left, to the point just after
the end of the histogram. The image will become
lighter. Be careful not to increase contrast too
much, though. A slight clipping of the shadows is
acceptable, but clipped highlights rarely look right.
Now use the middle slider to adjust the mid-tones
pushing it to the left will brighten the image
overall, and moving it to the right will darken it.
The black and white points remain unaffected.
Every image, and its corresponding histogram,
is unique, requiring individual treatment. However,
the basic object remains the same: to obtain a full
range of tones across the histogram.
Colour temperature
Before making any further adjustments, it is best to
adjust the global colour of the image using the white
balance or colour temperature control you make
further adjustments to it again later if required.
Most Raw converters will present you with the usual
choice of white balance presets, such as daylight
and cloudy. If your choice of white balance was
incorrect at the time of capture, you can quickly
and easily correct colour temperature or even
adjust it creatively. For even greater precision, you
can manually adjust colour temperature (to give
a warmer or cooler look) and tint (the amount
of green or magenta). There is also normally
an Eyedropper tool simply click on an area of
neutral colour to set the white balance accordingly.
However, bear in mind that the technically correct
white balance setting wont always produce the
most pleasing result. Therefore, always set colour
temperature to taste.
Spreading the tones
Setting the black and white points spreads
the images tones across the full range of the
histogram, increasing contrast.
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Many Raw converters have an exposure slider.
You can effectively alter exposure by dragging
the slider left (to darken the image) or right (to
make the image lighter), as you wish.
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Colour temperature
It is quick and easy to adjust a Raw les colour
temperature for corrective or creative purposes,
either by selecting from a number of standard
presets, or by manually adjusting colour
temperature or tint.
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suit the standard 3:2 ratio of most DSLRs, or crop your
picture to a square or panoramic format. Most Raw
converters allow you to lock a particular aspect ratio
or create your own custom ratio. Alternatively, you
can unlock the aspect ratio and crop images to the
shape you think best suits that particular shot.
Having clicked on the crop tool, use the selection
handles to highlight the area you want to maintain. To
perform the crop, click on the selection or press Enter.
The area outside your selection will be discarded.
Curves
Even after setting the black and white points, you
may still need to make further adjustments to the
image contrast. Most Raw converters have a simple
Contrast slider, to allow users to quickly increase or
reduce contrast levels. However, for greater control,
use the Curves control.
The Curves box shows a graph with a straight
diagonal line, cutting diagonally at a 45-degree angle.
The bottom left corner represents pure black (0); the
top right corner white (255); and mid-point mid-tones
(128). The horizontal axis of the graph represents the
original brightness values of the pixels (Input levels);
the vertical axis represents the new brightness levels
(Output levels). By clicking and dragging the line into
different positions you can re-map the images tonal
range and alter overall contrast.
If you wish to increase contrast, add an S-shaped
curve. This is done by pulling down the quarter tones
slightly and pushing up the three-quarter tones.
You can also create anchor points by clicking on any
point along the line. Then, by either dragging them
up or down, you can create your customized curve.
By moving a point on the grid up, pixels of that tone
within the image will become lighter; drag them down
and they will become darker. Curves is a powerful and
exible tool for stretching and compressing tones.
Cropping
This is an important compositional tool that can
radically alter a photographs appearance and balance.
It also allows you to remove distracting features
from the edge of the frame, or effectively magnify
the subject useful if you were unable to obtain the
desired composition in-camera. You can also change
the aspect ratio of the image if your subject doesnt
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Changes you make to Raw les are non-destructive. They are not applied directly to the Raw le,
so the unaltered original is always retained. It is possible to make quite substantial changes to
Raw les with very little impact on picture quality.
Using the Curves control
Creating an S curve will increase the overall
contrast in your images.
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Aspect ratio
Due to the standard 3:2 aspect ratio offered by
most digital cameras, it is not always possible
to frame your subject just as you would wish
in-camera. Thankfully, in post processing, you
can alter the images aspect ratio, or crop to
taste, to enhance the look of your photos.
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Colour saturation
The colours in an unprocessed Raw le particularly
in an exposed-to-the-right image often look
weak. A good degree of natural colour saturation
will be restored once the black and white points
have been set and contrast adjusted. However,
colours may still require a little extra boost. All
Raw converters have Saturation control; some also
offer a useful Vibrance slider. The difference between
the two is straightforward. Saturation is linear,
boosting all colours equally. Vibrance is non-linear
and is designed to boost the colours in the image
that are less saturated. It also protects skin tones,
useful for portrait and people photography. The
Vibrance control typically produces more subtle,
natural-looking results. There is no magic formula
for adjusting Saturation or Vibrance. Simply drag the
slider to increase or decrease colour saturation
to taste. However, do be cautious: it is very easy to
be seduced by the results of colour saturation and
overdo the effect. Try to keep images looking natural
and faithful to the original scene.
Many Raw converters allow you to ne-tune
the hue, saturation and lightness (HSL) of individual
colours using a colour wheel, colour picker, or a
targeted adjustment tool for maximum colour control.
Noise reduction
One of the nal things to do before exporting your processed
image is to look for noise (see page 43) and, if needed,
apply a degree of noise reduction. All digital images contain
a certain amount of noise. Exposing well by pushing
exposure to the right will help keep noise to a minimum.
However, a small degree of noise reduction at the conversion
stage is often benecial. Noise reduction software typically
built-in to RAW packages is very sophisticated. However, it
is effectively obscuring and destroying ne detail, so do not
be too aggressive with it; only apply the minimum amount
required. A certain degree of luminance noise, resembling
lm grain, is generally acceptable to the eye, but colour noise
is ugly. The amount of noise reduction you need to apply will
depend on the individual image.
Dust spotting
Even the latest DSLRs, with automatic sensor
cleaning systems, are prone to dust and dirt settling
on the sensor, causing unattractive telltale dust spots.
Any marks on the sensor grow more dened and
obvious when employing small f/stops. To remove
marks and dust spots from images, photo-editing
software incorporates a Clone tool. This allows you
to clone pixels from a neighbouring area to remove
any marks. The size and opacity of the brush can be
adjusted as required. Some programs also have a
Healing Brush tool. This works in a similar way, but
also matches the texture, lighting, transparency, and
shading of the sampled pixels to the pixels being
healed. As a result, the repaired pixels appear to blend
seamlessly into the rest of the image. Dust spotting
tools in some Raw converters can be quite ddly to
apply. Using equivalent tools in Photoshop can prove
quicker and easier.
Feathers
While happy with this close-up of a pheasants
feathers, the colours of the Raw image looked
a little subdued (1). To enrich them, I increased
saturation by +8 in Lightroom. The result retains
a natural look and has more impact than the
unaltered original (2).
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Conversion for output
With your processing complete, you can convert the
image to your chosen le format. When archiving
images, Tiff is generally considered best, particularly
if you intend to do further work to the image in
Photoshop. However, if you are sure that you wont,
and conserving storage space is a priority, convert your
le to Jpeg, saving it at its highest quality setting.
During the conversion process, you will be given
various options. Save your TIFFs at the 16-bit setting
Checking for dust spots
Before exporting your images, view photographs
at 100% and check for any dust spots. Marks can
be quickly removed using the Clone tool or Healing
Brush tool. It is important to tidy up an image
before sharing or printing.
in order to preserve image quality when making
additional adjustments. If you have nished working
on the le, it is ne to archive images as 8-bit Tiffs,
as the le size is more manageable. Export images at
300 pixels per inch, as this is the resolution required
if you are submitting images for publication. You
will also be prompted to select the images colour
space. There are generally three options: sRGB, Adobe
RGB and ProPhoto RGB. sRGB is the smallest colour
space and generally best avoided, except for web
use. ProPhoto RGB is the largest and (theoretically)
the best one to use if you intend to do any further
editing or are preparing images to print using your
own inkjet although many of the colours will
be out of the printers gamut. However, if you are
sending les for publication, use Adobe RGB, which
is the industry standard. Name your le as you wish,
to suit your naming system. Personally, I give my
images a custom name followed by the original le
number. This helps me quickly locate the original
Raw le should I need to do so. Finally, click Export.
Exporting photos
Having carefully processed your Raw le, making
adjustments to exposure, contrast, colour
temperature and saturation, your last action is
to convert your le. Tiff is the best le format for
archiving images. Name les with a custom name
for easy identication and nally click export.
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The appeal and drama of black and white
photography is endearing and, thanks
to digital, this powerful medium has
never been more popular or accessible.
Converting colour images into mono
is a relatively quick and simple process
although for the very best results,
it is worthwhile investing a little more
time and effort.
Black and white photography has certainly passed
the test of time and, combined with a suitable scene
or subject, can convey more drama and mood than
its colour equivalent. Removing colour helps place
emphasis on the subjects shape and form and also
on an image's composition and light.
Although digital cameras allow photographers
to capture greyscale images in-camera, or convert
captured les in-camera via a Retouch menu, more
tonal information is recorded in colour. Therefore,
to maximize image quality, continue shooting in
colour and convert in the digital darkroom. Another
advantage of shooting in colour is that, while you
can convert a colour image to black and white;
you cant convert a black and white image to
colour. Quite simply, shooting in colour originally
gives you more options.
You can convert an image to monochrome
either at the Raw processing stage or, having saved
your le as a Tiff, in Photoshop. The latter gives you
more options and a greater degree of control. There
are a number of different ways to convert images
to black and white in Photoshop. The simplest is
Image > Adjustments > Desaturate, but this offers
no control over the result. One of the most popular
methods is to use the Channel Mixer (Image >
Adjustments > Channel Mixer). This allows you to
mix the three colour channels red, green and blue
to simulate the effects of colour lters in order to
adjust the images tonal range and contrast. When
using this method, try to keep the combined total
of the three mixer settings to 100%.
However, photographers are given even more
control over the look of their black and white images
in the latest versions of Photoshop, with the Image >
Adjustments > Black and White dialog.
Black and white conversion
Step 1
Having selected an image suited to conversion to
monochrome, click Image > Adjustments > Black
and White. There are various options in the dialog
box. You can click on Auto and let Photoshop make
all the decisions for you. There are also a number
of useful presets. However, it is better to adjust
the colour channels yourself.
Step 2
The colour sliders are designed to mimic traditional
back and white lters used to adjust and control
contrast and tone. Using the sliders, it is possible
to lighten or darken specic tones by increasing
or decreasing selected colours. Doing this can help
a subject stand out from its surroundings, rather
than merge into them.
Step 3
Every image will need individual treatment adjust
the sliders until you achieve the desired result. In this
instance, upping the green and yellow sliders created
a far more striking, contrasty result. If necessary,
make any nal adjustments to contrast by clicking
Image > Adjustments > Curves. Finally, save and
export your black and white using a different le
name to the original.
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Exposure blending
Land
Sky
2

Step 2
With both images open in Photoshop, click on the
lighter of the two shots. Select the Move tool from
the Tools palette. Drag the lighter picture (LAND)
over the darker one (SKY), dropping it onto the
darker frame. The lighter image is added as a new
layer in the Layers palette, on top of the darker
photo. Hold down the Shift key while dragging
to ensure that the two images precisely align.
An alterative to using grads is to blend
two different shots: one correctly exposed
for the sky; the other for the land. By doing
so, it is possible to achieve a result that is
correctly exposed throughout. Graduated
ND lters (see page 156) are popular
tools among landscape photographers for
helping lower the contrast between the
land and sky. However, it can be argued
that placing a piece of glass or resin
in front of the lens will degrade image
quality to some small degree.
There are also certain situations where using a grad
just isnt practical, such as when there is a broken
horizon, or the contrast range is so great that
ltration isnt a viable option. There is also cost to
consider: buying sets of grads can prove expensive.
There are a number of different methods to do
this. However, for this example, I will demonstrate
one of the simplest, but also one of the most popular
and effective ways to blend two exposures.
Step 1
When I photographed this early morning moorland
view, I captured two identically composed images
one correctly exposed for the land and the other
for the sky to ensure I had both shadow and
highlight detail. Using Lightroom, I converted both
images to TIFF format and then opened them in
Photoshop. I named the images LAND and SKY for
easy identication.
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Step 3
Click on the Magnetic Lasso Tool in the Tools palette
and, using it, carefully select the sky. In this example,
I feathered the selection by around 100 pixels so
that there would be a smooth blend between the
two layers in the next step. A radius of between 100
and 200 pixels typically works well.
Step 4
Now, select the Eraser tool from the Tools palette,
opting for a large brush size of medium hardness.
Using the brush, erase the top (lighter) layer in order
to reveal the darker (correctly exposed) sky beneath.
Continue to selectively erase the top layer until
you are satised with the result. Finally, atten the
layers (Layer > Flatten Image).
Step 5
Having nished blending your image, you may wish
to make a few nal adjustments to the image as a
whole by adjusting contrast (Image > Adjustments >
Curves) or saturation (Image > Adjustments > Hue/
Saturation). The nal blended image looks natural
and perfectly exposed.
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180
High dynamic range, or HDR, photography
is a software technique where a series of
bracketed exposures is merged together to
overcome the dynamic range limitations
of traditional single-shot photography. The
nal result displays remarkable detail and
tonality throughout the image, boasting
far more shadow and highlight detail than
would be possible from a single frame.
It is similar in principal to exposure blending (see
page 178), but it takes the process a step further.
Some DSLRs have an HDR mode, where the camera
captures a bracketed series and merges them in-
camera. However, producing an HDR image post
capture using dedicated software offers far more
versatility and options.
High dynamic range photography
1 To create your HDR image in Photoshop,
click File > Automate > Merge to HDR pro. Select
the images you wish to merge and load all the
photographs in your sequence. Check the Attempt
to Automatically Align All Source Images box, to
help precise alignment. The process is quite memory
intensive, so, depending on your computer, it may
take several minutes for the images to load.
2 A Merge to HDR Pro dialog box displays
thumbnails of the source image and also a preview
of the merged result. To the upper right of the
preview, select bit depth. Choose 32-bit to store
the entire dynamic range of the HDR le. However,
opting for a 16- or 8-bit depth image allows you to
access Photoshops HDR Pro tone-mapping methods.
Select Local Adaption. This offers greater control
compared to the other options: Equalize Histogram
Exposure and Gamma and Highlight Compression.
2
Although HDR can be employed to extend dynamic
range to create natural-looking results, more
commonly it is applied creatively, in order to produce
wonderfully artistic, surreal and articial-looking
images of high-contrast subjects. Responses to HDR
are very subjective you either love or hate the look
of HDR images. However, when combined with a
suitable subject, there is no denying that HDR images
can prove truly striking, recording the full range
of colour and contrast that our eyes can typically
see but which a sensor cant normally capture in a
single exposure. Architecture, derelict buildings and
cityscapes at night are just a small example of the
types of subject that suit the HDR treatment.
When you capture your HDR sequence, take
enough photos to cover the subjects full dynamic
range. A series of at least ve is usually required for

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3 Check the Remove Ghosts box to create a
smoother image and alter the images HDR tonality
by adjusting local brightness regions throughout
the image using the following tools:
Edge Glow Radius species the size of the local
brightness regions. Strength species how far apart
two pixels tonal values must be before they are
no longer part of the same brightness region.
Tone and Detail Dynamic range is maximized at
a Gamma setting of 1.0; lower settings work
on mid-tones, while higher settings emphasize
highlights and shadows. Exposure values reect
f-stops. Drag the Detail slider to adjust sharpness
and the Shadow and Highlight sliders to brighten
or darken these regions.
Color Vibrance Adjusts the intensity of subtle colours
while minimizing clipping of highly saturated colours.
Saturation adjusts the intensity of all colours from
100 (monochrome) to +100 (double saturation).
4
the best results. However, depending on the scene,
you may need to shoot a larger sequence. Many
digital cameras have an Auto Bracketing sequence
to help you capture your HDR sequence. Using this
feature, you can program the camera to vary the
level of exposure with each subsequent frame. For
example, you could capture a series of ve images
at -2, -1, 0, +1, +2. Alternatively, instead of using the
Auto Bracketing feature, capture the series manually
by adjusting the shutter speed for each image
f/stop and ISO should remain consistent throughout.
All images need to be identically composed to aid
alignment, so use a tripod and trigger the shutter
remotely using a remote device.
To create your HDR image, you need to merge
your bracketed sequence using appropriate HDR
software. Independent programs such as Photomatix
are popular. HDR is a fairly in-depth technique,
impossible to do justice to in a couple of pages, and
you will nd no shortage of information on it online.
However, to get you started, below is a basic tutorial
using the built-in HDR facility in Photoshop.
3
Toning Curve Displays an adjustable curve over
a histogram showing luminance values in the
original, 32-bit HDR image. The red tick marks
along the horizontal axis are in one EV
(approximately one f-stop) increments.
Once you have nished making adjustments to
the image, click OK to create your HDR image.
4 Finally, if required, make further adjustments
to the images contrast by clicking Image >
Adjustments > Curves. The result should be an eye-
catching image that would have been impossible
to achieve in a single frame in-camera.
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Having captured a correctly exposed image,
and processed it appropriately, you need
to know that your nal, printed image
will look the same on paper as on your
computer screen. Cameras, monitors and
printers all see colour slightly differently,
which is why calibration is important.

In order to edit and process your images condently,
and produce faithful, high-quality prints, you need to
do two things: calibrate your monitor and also your
photo printer or, more accurately, create proles
for the papers you use with your printer. Only by
calibrating your monitor can you be sure that what
you see on screen is how the image really looks.
Typically, the majority of monitors display a colour
cast of some type out of the box. While this may
only be a slight colour shift, it still means that the
colours in your photographs will not look authentic.
By printing a test target, and then using hardware
to read the target and software in order to compare
the output against known values, ICC (International
Color Consortium) proles can be generated for
specic printer-paper combinations. An ICC prole
describes the colour characteristics of a device,
such as a monitor or printer, and communicates
that information to other hardware, enabling it to
reproduce colours accurately.
Calibration
How to calibrate your monitor
You can calibrate your monitor by sight, using simple
programs such as Adobe Gamma in Photoshop or,
if you use an Apple Mac, the Display Calibrator
Assistant. While this will usually be an improvement
on an uncalibrated monitor, it wont produce critically
accurate results. The second, far more accurate,
method, is to use a hardware calibration device known
as a colorimeter. Monitor calibration involves placing
the colorimeter on the screen then running software
that compares the colours your monitor displays
against known values. Then software creates a prole
that adjusts the monitors colours accordingly.
Before you start the calibration process, ensure
you are working in a suitable environment. Lighting
should be dim but not completely dark, and there
shouldnt be any lights shining directly onto the
monitor. Set your computer desktop to display a solid
mid-grey background. The calibration software will
guide you through the process step by step. Some
monitors allow you to make manual adjustment to
brightness, contrast, white point and RGB settings.
If your monitor does not allow this, the software may
provide a fully automatic calibration. You may also
be asked to dene target settings for the parameters
listed below. There are no absolute rules about which
settings to choose, as they can be affected by factors
such as the brightness of your working environment,
but the following settings are widely recommended:
Calibration device
There are various colorimeters
available, but three of the
principal manufacturers are
Datacolor, Pantone and X-rite.
Not all devices will calibrate
both the monitor and printer.
Some are designed solely for
monitor calibration, others
for printer proling, while
more advanced devices will
do both. The Datacolor Spyder
is a popular, easy-to-use device,
that is designed to calibrate
LCD, LED, OLED, CRT, DLP and
other displays.

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Try to calibrate your monitor at least once a month, as proles can drift over time,
particularly luminance settings. Most calibration software can be
set to remind you when you need to recalibrate.
Lake reection
To ensure the colours you view on screen look
authentic and reproduce faithfully when printed,
calibrate your monitor and printer.
1sec at f/11, tripod
Brightness: in the region 110 cdm2140 cdm2
Contrast: around 50% (the calibration software
may help you arrive at a suitable level)
Gamma: 2.2 (for both Macs and PCs)
White point: 6500K, D65
Some LCD monitors may give a better result if the
white point is set to a value known as the native
white point. This will give you the maximum possible
colour range for your monitor, and any other value
may introduce banding on some monitors. In the
majority of cases, the native white point will be
close to 6500K. It is often worth experimenting with
different settings to see which one works best.
Printer and paper proles
In many respects, creating paper proles is very
similar to calibrating a monitor: you print a test
target, measure it with a hardware device and let
the software create a prole. The equipment needed
is generally more expensive than that needed for
monitor proling, so many photographers have
proles made for them by colour management
specialists. If you have several proles made at the
same time, for different papers, this can be relatively
costly, but is normally a one-off expense.
It is important to remember that when you
print the test target, you must turn off all colour
management in your editing software and printer
drivers. How you do this will vary depending on your
operating system and printer model. If carrying out
your own proling, the software will guide you; if a
specialist is making proles for you, ask their advice.
DEH_Ch6.indd 183 27/11/2012 16:39
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6
It would be a waste to keep your favourite
images hidden away on your computers
hard drive. Great digital exposures should
be shared and enjoyed and the majority
of photographers take photos with the
intention of ultimately printing their best
either to frame, exhibit or to enter into
photo competitions.
Thanks to the sophistication of home printers, it
is possible to produce prints of outstanding photo
quality without the need, or added cost, of getting
them printed at a professional lab. Even budget
photo printers are capable of excellent results,
despite their relatively low price tag. However, if
you intend on making a large number of prints it is
worthwhile investing in the best quality printer you
can justify, and opting for a version that prints up to
A3 size, or larger. This will give you greater exibility
with the range of sizes you can print. After all, with
the resolution of digital cameras growing ever higher,
it is possible to produce large prints without making
any compromises in print quality.
Only a few years ago there were concerns
regarding the longevity of digital prints. However,
the latest inks are far more stable than older ink
sets and accelerated testing suggests that digital
prints have a long projected life. Although ink is
relatively expensive, generally speaking it is best to
opt for the printers own inks, rather than a cheaper,
compatible, third-party brand. There is a wide
range of papers available, in a variety of nishes,
produced by the likes of Epson, Fotospeed, Ilford
and Hahnemuhle. The nish you prefer is a matter
of taste try a selection of paper types and do your
own comparisons.
Entire books are dedicated to the art of printing,
so this section is simply designed to help get you
started there is insufcient space here to go into
any great detail. Most photographers prefer to print
using Photoshop. The basic workow for printing an
image can be summarized as follows:
Open the image in Photoshop
(or a similar program)
Resize the image accordingly
Printing
Soft proof the image (simulate the appearance
of the print on your computer screen)
Make any adjustments necessary based
on the soft proof
Sharpen for output
Select the paper type and paper prole
in the printer driver
Select the output resolution
Print
Dpi (dots per inch)
Dots per inch, or dpi, refers to a printer measurement
and shouldnt be confused with pixels per inch (ppi).
Simply, a printer prints dots and a monitor displays
pixels. The dpi measurement of a printer often needs
to be considerably higher than the ppi of a monitor
in order to produce similar-quality output. This is
because of the limited range of colours for each dot
typically available on a printer.
Remember that dpi is not the resolution of the
image or the monitor; it is the measurement of how
many dots of ink the printer can place within an inch.
In theory, a printer with a higher dpi will produce
a higher-quality print. Today, even so-called budget
printers are capable of excellent results, typically
boasting a high dpi upwards of 1440. Inkjet is the
most widely used type of home printer, working by
squirting tiny droplets of ink onto the paper.

Photo paper
There is a wide
range of different
photo papers
available to
buy from the
likes of Epson,
Fotospeed, Ilford,
Hahnemhle,
Permajet
and Tetenal.
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A thin, white border is a simple but effective way to help your images stand out.
Therefore, slightly reduce the scale of your image to leave a border of equal width surrounding
your photo. A thin border is also useful should you wish to mount the image for display
or framing negating the need to crop into the image space itself.
Printer
There are now many
high-quality, affordable
photo printers available
to buy, offering exibility,
long-lasting images and
high-speed operation.
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Resizing
When possible, print at the les native size as long
as the resolution falls between 180 and 480ppi.
If you need to upsample or downsample the image,
do so by clicking Image > Image size.
Soft proong
Soft proong allows you to preview the way the print
will look in your chosen medium. A lot of people
are initially discouraged from soft proong, because
when you rst click on the Preview button, the
appearance of the image can change dramatically,
depending on the options you have selected. It is,
however, a useful tool; it gives you the opportunity to
adjust your settings to squeeze the maximum image
quality out of the print and prevents disappointment
when you see the nal result.
To set up soft proong in Photoshop, go to View
> Proof Setup > Custom. In the dialog box, from
Device to Simulate, choose the prole for the paper
you want to print on then select your rendering
intent. The rendering intent translates the colour
gamut from the colour space of the image to the
colour space of the printer. Typically, there will be
some out-of-gamut colours that the printer cannot
reproduce precisely. From the choice presented in
the dialog box, Perceptual and Relative Colorimetric
are the two most useful.
Perceptual compresses the range of colours
to match the gamut of the printer, while trying to
maintain the perceptual relationship between the
colours it therefore adjusts all the colours in
the image. Relative Colorimetric, on the other hand,
simply removes the colours that cant be printed and
doesnt change any of the colours that are within
gamut. So which one should you choose? Well, the
only way to know is to try them both, while soft
proong, and choose the one that works best with
that particular image.
The next step is to click on Simulate Paper
Colour. Clicking on this button soft proofs the
contrast range of the paper. As this will always be
much lower than your monitors contrast range,
this is when you will see the major changes in the
image. Monitors have much deeper blacks and much
brighter whites than can be reproduced on paper,
so typically the image will look darker and muddier
when soft proofed. At this stage, its worth double-
checking that you are happy with the rendering
intent youve chosen.
You now need to make adjustments to the image
so that the print will resemble the on-screen image
more closely. One way to do this is to open two
copies of the image, soft proong one of them then
tweaking it to match the original version as closely
as possible. Typically, you will need to make changes
to the image Curve to add a little extra punch to the
blacks and lighten the mid- and three-quarter tones,
and the hue and saturation of individual colours.
Having done this, you can feel condent that your
print will be closely matched to the screen image.
Sharpening
Sharpening is a much broader topic than most
people realize, so this is only a brief introduction
here. As well as capture sharpening, digital images
need additional sharpening before output. How
much output sharpening an image needs depends
on the size of the print and the paper type you are
using. It will also vary slightly from image to image.
In Photoshop, Unsharp Mask is recommended Click
Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask. View images on
screen at 50% or 25%, as this will give you a much
better idea of how the effect will look in print than
viewing the image at 100%. Set a small radius
often one between 0.3 and 0.7 pixels works well
and push the Amount slider up until you just start
to see a very slight halo around the edges.
Some media, such as heavily textured ne
art paper, will need more sharpening than others,
but you can experiment with this when you have
identied your favourite papers.
The print
You are now ready to print your image. In Photoshop,
go to File > Print. In the dialog box, select Photoshop
Manages Colors and choose the appropriate printer
prole and rendering intent. Select the paper type.
The layout of the printing options dialog box may
vary depending on your operating system and printer
model, but all these settings should be selectable.
When you have printed your image, give it half
an hour or so to settle before you view it, and always
try to view it in neutral light.
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Afterglow
Your best images should be enjoyed and shared with others. Your print is the last stage of taking a great
digital exposure.
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188
Glossary
Aberration: An imperfection in
an image caused by the optics
of a lens.
Autoexposure lock (AE-L):
A camera control that locks
in the exposure value, allowing
an image to be recomposed.
Angle of view: The area of
a scene that a lens takes in,
measured in degrees.
Aperture: The opening in a
camera lens through which
light passes to expose the
image sensor. The relative
size of the aperture is denoted
by f-numbers.
Autofocus (AF): A through-the-
lens focusing system allowing
accurate focus without the user
manually focusing the lens.
Bracketing: Taking a series
of identical compositions,
changing only the exposure
value, usually in or 1 f-stop
(+/) increments.
Camera shake: Movement of
the camera during exposure
that, particularly at slow
shutter speeds, can lead to
blurred images.
Charged-coupled device (CCD):
A common type of image sensor
used in digital cameras.
Centre-weighted metering:
A way of determining the
exposure of a photograph,
placing emphasis on the
lightmeter reading from
the centre of the frame.
Complementary oxide semi-
conductor (CMOS): A microchip
consisting of a grid of millions of
light-sensitive cells the more
sensors, the greater the number
of pixels and the higher the
resolution of the nal image.
Colour temperature: The colour
of a light source expressed in
degrees Kelvin (K).
Compression: The process by
which digital les are reduced
in size.
Contrast: The range between the
highlight and shadow areas of an
image, or a marked difference in
illumination between colours or
adjacent areas.
Depth of eld (DOF):
The amount of an image that
appears acceptably sharp. This is
controlled by the aperture the
smaller the aperture, the greater
the depth of eld.
Distortion: Typically, when
straight lines are not rendered
perfectly straight in a
photograph. Barrel and pin-
cushion distortion are examples
of types of lens distortion.
dots per inch (dpi): Measure
of the resolution of a printer
or a scanner. The more dots
per inch, the higher the
resolution.
Dynamic range: The ability of
the cameras sensor to capture
a full range of shadows and
highlights.
Evaluative metering: A metering
system whereby light reected
from several subject areas is
calculated based on algorithms.
Exposure: The amount of light
allowed to strike and expose
the image sensor, controlled
by aperture, shutter speed and
ISO sensitivity. Also the result
of taking a photograph, as in
making an exposure.
Exposure compensation: A
control that allows intentional
over- or underexposure.
Fill-in ash: Flash combined with
daylight in an exposure. Used
with naturally backlit or harshly
side-lit or top-lit subjects to
prevent silhouettes forming, or
to add extra light to the shadow
areas of a well-lit scene.
Filter: A piece of coloured, or
coated, glass or plastic placed
in front of the lens for creative
or corrective use.
F-stop/number: Number
assigned to a particular lens
aperture. Wide apertures are
denoted by small numbers such
as f/2.8, and small apertures by
large numbers such as f/22.
Focal length: The distance,
usually in millimetres, from the
optical centre point of a lens
element to its focal point, which
signies its power.
Guide number (GN): Used to
determine a ashguns output.
GN = subject distance x aperture.
Highlights: The brightest areas
of an image.
Histogram: A graph used to
represent the distribution of
tones in an image.
Hotshoe: An accessory shoe with
electrical contacts that allows
synchronization between the
camera and a ashgun.
Incident-light reading: Meter
reading based on the light falling
on the subject.
International Standards
Organization (ISO): The
sensitivity of the image sensor
measured in terms equivalent
to the ISO rating of a lm.
Joint Photographic Experts
Group (Jpeg): A popular image
le type that is compressed to
reduce le size.

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189
Glossary
Lens: The eye of the camera.
The lens projects the image
it sees onto the cameras
imaging sensor. The size of
the lens is measured and
indicated as focal length.
Liquid crystal display (LCD):
The at screen on the back of
a digital camera that allows the
user to play back and review
digital images and shooting
information.
Macro: A term used to describe
close-up photography and the
close-focusing ability of a lens.
Manual focus: This is when
focusing is achieved by
manual rotation of the lenss
focusing ring.
Megapixel: One million pixels
equals one megapixel.
Memory card: A removable
storage device for digital
cameras.
Metering: Using a camera
or handheld light meter to
determine the amount of
light coming from a scene and
calculate the required exposure.
Metering pattern: The system
used by the camera to calculate
the exposure.
Mirror lock-up: Allows the reex
mirror of an SLR to be raised and
held in the up position, before
the exposure is made.
Monochrome: Image comprising
only of grey tones, from black
to white.
Multiplication factor: The
amount the focal length of a lens
will be magnied when attached
to a camera with a cropped-type
sensor smaller than 35mm.
Noise: Coloured image
interference caused by stray
electrical signals.
Overexposure: A condition
when too much light reaches
the sensor. Detail is lost in the
highlights.
Perspective: In context of visual
perception, it is the way in
which the subject appears to
the eye depending on its spatial
attributes, or its dimensions
and the position of the eye
relative to it.
Photoshop: A photo-editing
program developed and
published by Adobe Systems
Incorporated. It is considered
the industry standard for editing
and processing photographs.
Pixel: Abbreviation of picture
element. Pixels are the smallest
bits of information that combine
to form a digital image.
Post processing: The use of
software to make adjustments
to a digital le on a computer.
Prime: A xed focal length
a lens that isnt a zoom.
Raw: A versatile and widely
used digital le format where
the shooting parameters are
attached to the le, not applied.
Resolution: The number of pixels
used to either capture an image
or display it, usually expressed
in ppi. The higher the resolution,
the ner the detail.
Red, green, blue (RGB):
Computers and other digital
devices understand colour
information as shades of red,
green and blue.
Saturation: The intensity of the
colours in an image.
Shadow areas: The darkest areas
of the exposure.
Shutter: The mechanism that
controls the amount of light
reaching the sensor by opening
and closing when the shutter
release is activated.
Shutter speed: The shutter
speed determines the duration
of exposure.
Single lens reex (SLR): A
camera type that allows the
user to view the scene through
the lens, using a reex mirror.
Spot metering: A metering
system that places importance
on the intensity of light reected
by a very small percentage of
the frame.
Telephoto lens: A lens with a
large focal length and a narrow
angle of view.
Tagged-Image File Format
(TIFF): A universal le format
supported by virtually all image
editing applications. TIFFs are
uncompressed digital les.
Through the lens (TTL)
metering: A metering system
built into the camera that
measures light passing through
the lens at the time of shooting.
Underexposure: A condition in
which too little light reaches the
sensor. There is too much detail
lost in the shadow areas of the
exposure.
Viewnder: An optical system
used for composing and
sometimes focusing the subject.
Vignetting: Darkening of the
corners of an image, due to an
obstruction usually caused by
a lter(s) or hood.
White balance: A function that
allows the correct colour balance
to be recorded for any given
lighting situation.
Wide-angle lens: A lens with
a short focal length.
Zoom: A lens with a focal length
that can be adjusted to any
length within its focal range.
190
Useful websites
Acknowledgements
Writing any book is a time-consuming and often stressful! project. Although it is my name on the cover,
this book wouldnt be possible without the hard work of everyone at Ammonite Press.
A big thank you to Gerrie Purcell, Jonathan Bailey, Virginia Brehaut, Dominique Page, Rob Yarham and
Chlo Alexander. Thank you to Canon, Datacolor, Cokin, Epson, Hoya, Lastolite, Lee Filters, Lumiquest, Nikon,
Sekonic and Wimberley for supplying product images, and to Ollie Blayney and Tom Collier.
The biggest thank you is reserved for my wonderful family. Their love, support and encouragement is unfailing.
Im fortunate that my mum and dad arent just great parents, but wonderful friends, too. Thank you for
everything you do. My wife, Fliss, is simply the most wonderful person Ive ever met. She is so understanding
of the demands of my profession. She is my best friend and the most wonderful mother to our beautiful
children, Evie, Maya and Jude. Thank you Fliss I love you.
Calibration
Datacolor: www.datacolor.com
Xrite: www.xrite.com
Depth-of-eld Calculator
DOF Master: www.dofmaster.com
Outdoor equipment
Paramo: www.paramo.co.uk
Photographers
Ross Hoddinott: www.rosshoddinott.co.uk
Photographic equipment
Canon: www.canon.com
Cokin: www.cokin.com
F-Stop Gear: http://fstopgear.com
Gitzo: www.gitzo.com
Lastolite: www.lastolite.com
Lee Filters: www.leelters.com
Lexar: www.lexar.com
Lumiquest: www.lumiquest.com
Manfrotto: www.manfrotto.com
Nikon: www.nikon.com
Novoex: www.novoex.com
Olympus: www.olympus.com
Pentax: www.pentaximaging.com
Sekonic: www.sekonic.com
Sigma: www.sigmaphoto.com
Sony: www.sony.com
Sto-fen: www.stofen.com
Tamron: www.tamron.com
Wimberley: www.tripodhead.com
Photography workshops
Dawn 2 Dusk Photography:
www.dawn2duskphotography.co.uk
Printing
Epson: www.epson.com
Hahnemuehle: www.hahnemuehle.de
Harman: www.harman-inkjet.com
HP: www.hp.com
Permajet: www.permajet.com
Tetenal: www.tetenal.com
Sunrise and sunset direction
The Photographers Ephemeris:
www.photoephemeris.com
Software
Adobe: www.adobe.com
Apple: www.apple.com/aperture
Corel: www.corel.com
DxO: www.dxo.com
Phase One: www.phaseone.com
Photomatix Pro: www.hdrsoft.com
Further reading
Digital Photography Review: www.dpreview.com
Digital SLR photography magazine:
www.digitalslrphoto.com
Ephotozine: www.ephotozine.com

191
Index
Index
A
abstracts and patterns 947
ambient light 104121
aperture 15, 447
and exposure value (EV) 4041
and ISO rating 42
shutter speed and 567
urban landscapes 79
aperture-priority (A or Av) mode
623
architecture 789
archiving images 175
auto (pre-programmed) picture
modes 645
autoexposure lock (AE-L) 22, 23
available light see ambient light;
low light
B
backlighting 22, 105, 107
blurring motion 545
brightness 345, 36
C
calibration, for colour printing
1823
camera shake 523
card readers, for download and
backup 168
cleaning systems, dust spotting
1745
Clone tool 174
close-up images 98101
cloud
effect of 110111, 11617
White Balance settings 114
colorimeters 182
colour printing 1847
colour temperature
of ambient light 11215
articial light 119
lters and 148
Raw les and 17071
Compact System Cameras (CSC)
27
composition 73, 767, 90
compression, picture quality and
69
contrast 29, 34, 35, 36
conversion, analog to digital (A/D)
29
conversion software 16877
cropping 1723
with tele-zoom 79
Curves control 172
D
depth of eld 469, 100101, 138
landscapes 767
dynamic range 289, 35
see also high dynamic range;
sensor technology
E
exposing to the right (ETTR) 345,
169
exposure 810, 1469
abstracts and patterns 95
extreme neutral-density lters
and 1545
high- and low-key images 389
polarizing lters and 163
practical examples 72101
still lifes 923
exposure bracketing 59, 81
exposure compensation 31, 589,
107, 1367, 139
exposure mode programs 6063
exposure value (EV) 4041
exposure warnings 33
exposures
combining exposures 29,
74, 75
processing images shot in Raw
16687
F
f-stops 15, 44
le formats 689
lters 14863
close-up photography 98
extreme neutral-density 1545
lter factor 148
graduated neutral density 29,
54, 74, 75, 79, 1569
neutral density 148, 1523
polarizing 16063
screw-in or slot-in? 15051
ash guns 126, 13031
ash light photography 12445
accessories 1445
basics 1267
bouncing ash 1423
built-in ash 1289
exposure compensation 1367,
139
ll-in ash 1345, 138
ash bracketing 137
ash modes 13841
macro ash 1323
sync speed 131, 13841
TTL metering 1245
focus 469, 76
freezing movement 53, 61, 83
G
glossary of terms used 1889
H
high dynamic range (HDR) 18081
see also dynamic range
highlights screen 33
histograms 3031, 32, 359, 107,
170
in Live View screens 67
hyperfocal distance 489, 76
I
image editing software 1667
ISO rating 14, 41, 423, 84
J
jpeg les 68, 168
L
landscapes 46, 747, 110111,
1589
urban 789
LCD monitors 667
lens hoods 107
lenses 46, 64, 76, 79, 87
light
absorption factor 98
architecture and 789
colour and quality of 105,
110117
in landscapes 745
see also ambient light; low light
photography
To place an order, or request a catalogue, contact:
Ammonite Press
AE Publications, 166 High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 1XU, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)1273 488006 www.ammonitepress.com
light meters 16, 17, 1823, 74
lighting
for close-ups 99
still lifes 90
studio portraits 88, 110
low light photography 54, 8081
M
macro or close-up 101
metering 1623
backlit subjects 107
for close-ups 98
see also light meters
micro system cameras 27
movement 5055, 61, 83
movie clips and audio 67
N
nature photography 967, 99,
100101
see also landscapes; wildlife
night photography 8081
noise 423, 81, 174
P
panning 55
Photoshop
correcting distortion 79
lter effects using 148
HDR images 18081
picture quality, compression and
69
pixels 245, 289
polarizing lters 16063
portraits 869
bouncing ash 1423
depth of eld and 46
ll-in ash 1345
quality of light 110
red-eye 142, 143
reectors and 121
printing colour images 1847
R
Raw les 31, 34, 35, 68, 16687
conversion software 16877
convert to black and white
1767
image contrast 1725
noise reduction 174
reciprocity 567
reectors 12021
resolution 245
S
sensor technology 247
see also dynamic range
shutter speed 14, 5055
aperture and 567
and depth of eld 467, 138
and exposure value (EV) 4041
and ISO rating 42
movement 5055, 61
silhouettes 32, 1089
softbox-type diffusers 144
software
blending exposures 166, 1789
correcting distortion 79
image editing 1667
for noise reduction 43, 81
Raw conversion 16875
still life 9093
symbols, for auto picture modes
645
T
Tiff les 68, 175
tonality 20, 3031, 105
tripods 50, 76, 8081, 91
TTL metering 16, 1823, 74
ash metering 1245
spot metering 223, 80, 108
V
vignetting 149
W
websites 190
white balance (WB) 11215
wildlife photography 825
reectors and 12021
wireless ash triggers 145

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